Police in Kompong Cham province arrested a 35-year-old farmer on Monday, saying he hacked his wife dead with a machete after accusing her of having a sexual affair.
Police said they arrested Seng Sothea after he hit his wife, Than Sokea, six times with a machete in a drunken rage.
Mar Chenda, Koh Sotin district police chief, said: “He hacked his wife four times in the head and two times in the left arm. Although we tried to take her to the hospital, her injuries were too serious and she died on the way.”
The police chief added: “The suspect confessed that he was drunk and accused his wife of having an affair with other people, then his wife blamed him. Therefore he got angry and had a verbal dispute with her, and hacked his wife many times.”
Mr. Sothea has been placed in provisional detention and is scheduled to appear before the provincial court to face charges today.
Thy Somalai, a provincial official with rights group Adhoc, said that the case was symbolic of the government’s continued failure to address domestic violence in the country.
