A 25-year-old jewelry seller who was angry at his wife fatally slashed his 3-year-old daughter with a machete as she slept in their house in Preah Sihanouk province’s Prey Nop district, officials said on Thursday.
Provincial military police arrested Chiv Ratha on Wednesday in Veal Rinh commune, deputy district police chief Ke Sokhorn said.
Mr. Ratha “hacked his daughter two times on the front and back of her head while she was sleeping,” then attacked his 17-year-old cousin as he walked on the street outside the house, injuring his right palm, Mr. Sokhorn said.
Keo Sophal, deputy commander of the provincial military police, said Mr. Ratha was angry because his wife didn’t want to have sex, so he destroyed the couple’s property, killed the child, then chased his 25-year-old wife, Chiv Samady, outside the house.
“The wife ran to inform the Prey Nop military police,” he said.
Mr. Sophal said he immediately went to the family’s home with 10 military police officials to arrest the husband.
“When he was brought to the military police headquarters, he didn’t look panicked,” he said. “It’s brutal.”
“At first, the police assumed that the suspect was high on drugs, but after we did a urine drug test, we couldn’t find any drug-related substances,” Mr. Sophal said.
Mr. Ratha was detained on Thursday at the district military police station and was to be sent today to the provincial court on a provisional charge of premeditated murder, Mr. Sophal said. The injured cousin, Mean Hout, was being treated at a private hospital in Prey Nop.
