A CPP activist and her two children were killed Saturday night following a grenade attack on their home in Kampot province’s Kompong Trach district, police and rights group Adhoc said Sunday.
Chum Sophat, 45, her daughter Khim Rady, 15, and son Khim Tola, 8, died at the scene in Kanthor Khang Lech commune after a grenade was thrown through an open window into the room in which they were sleeping at around 11:40 pm, district police chief Khuon Sovann said.
“We believe this was some kind of revenge attack,” he said, adding that the police are continuing investigation.
Adhoc Provincial Coordinator Try Chhoun said that Chum Sophat was a prominent CPP activist in her village, but that she could not say whether the attack had been politically motivated.
“There is no obvious conclusion in this case,” Try Chhoun said, adding that Chum Sophat’s husband, who was working in Thailand when the attack took place, was also a CPP activist.
This was an innocent family, she said, and called on the police to arrest the perpetrators.
“[Chum Sophat] was a gentle and helpful villager,” said Tun Sokhom, 52, a second cousin of the dead woman. He said he suspected the attack to have been prompted by a personal dispute.
Four members of the family were absent from the house when the attack took place: the husband and two of their sons who were working in Thailand and a third son, Khim Ratha, who was at a pagoda, Tun Sokhom said.
“My mother never had any quarrel with anyone because she helped villagers” with healthcare, Khim Ratha said.
According to Tun Sokhom, one person was killed in a shooting and another one in a grenade attack in the commune a few years ago. Police never apprehended the perpetrators, he said.
