A 45-year-old man was arrested in Prey Veng province’s Kanh Chriech district on Tuesday night for beating his father to death and seriously injuring his mother in an unprovoked drunken attack, officials said Wednesday.
Ung Chheang, chief of Konglech commune, where the attack occurred, said Horn Hoeun woke up around 11 p.m. following a day of heavy drinking and assaulted Khat Thorn, 67, and Bun Leap, 66, with a wooden pestle.
“He has a broken heart and has looked like a mentally ill man since after his wife’s death last year,” Mr. Chheang said.
“I don’t know what is wrong with him but when he got up he used the pounding stick to beat his parents who were sleeping nearby,” he said, adding that 30 villagers went to the house upon hearing the attack, then notified police.
Khat Thorn died from serious head injuries en route to the Kompong Cham provincial referral hospital, where Ms. Leap is recovering, said Seng Sopheak, deputy provincial police chief.
The suspect will be sent to the provincial court to be charged with murder Thursday, he said.
