The only survivor of a brutal massacre of a family in Kompong Cham province on Monday passed away in a Phnom Penh hospital on Friday due to head wounds inflicted by his son-in-law, a relative and a doctor said.
Svay Sakhorn, 69, underwent surgery at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital on Tuesday to repair machete wounds that caused a fractured skull, and remained unconscious in intensive care until he died at around 2 a.m. Friday, said Kuy No, deputy head of the intensive care ward at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital.
“Mr. Svay Sakhorn’s head injuries were very serious. Our doctors could do nothing more to help him,” he said.
Chanty Sophy, Svay Sakhorn’s son, who stayed at his side until he passed, said that his father would be buried on Saturday.
“His body was taken to our homeland in Speu commune of Chamkar Loeu district early on Friday morning for a funeral,” Mr. Sophy said. “I am full of shock and sadness because now five members of my family have died.”
Svay Sakhorn, a CNRP commune councilor, was the only person to survive the drunken rampage of his son-in-law, Eng Thy, who, according to police, slaughtered his own wife, two young children and his wife’s mother on Monday evening.
Police said that Eng Thy had consumed more than half a liter of rice wine before engaging in a heated argument with his wife, who subsequently took their children, aged four and five, to spend the night at her parents’ home next door.
Eng Thy allegedly set fire to his wife’s clothes and then made his way to his in-laws’ home, slashing them with a machete as they came down the stairs to check on the fire and then attacking his wife and children inside the home. All four victims but Svay Sakhorn died at the scene.
Police launched a manhunt for Eng Thy, which ended on Tuesday when they found his body on a roadside in Kompong Thom province. They suspect that he committed suicide by throwing himself in front of a car.
