A woman was beheaded and had her arms chopped into pieces in her home in Ratanakkiri province on Saturday night by a jealous husband who fled after the attack and called military police the following day to confess, police said.
Sok Kunthea, 43, was slain with a machete at about 11 p.m. and was found dead in her home on Sunday morning by her nephew, who worked on the couple’s farm in Kon Mon district’s Teun commune, according to deputy commune police chief Ren Mouth.
“The worker went up the stairs and he saw Kunthea’s body lying there, while her husband and his motorbike were missing,” Mr. Mouth said.
The night before, her husband, Duong Sophal, 46, asked the nephew to buy a liter of wine for the couple to drink, which they did until 9 p.m. without quarrelling, Mr. Mouth said.
Mr. Sophal is believed to have fled the scene after the murder, but on Sunday at about 10 a.m. he called district military police to confess that he had killed his wife.
“He confessed to killing his wife and said he found her cheating on him twice in Phnom Penh with another man,” Mr. Mouth said, adding that the suspect is still at large and had turned off his telephone after calling in his crime.
Since January, there have been five similar acts of alcohol-fueled violence among family members or neighbors in Ratanakkiri province leaving people dead or disabled, three of which have taken place in Kon Mon district, according to Chhay Thy, provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc.
“This year violence has increased in comparison to last year,” Mr. Thy said. “Recently, we have been very concerned about alcohol consumption and the use of drugs, because all of this can trigger violence.”
