A man was arrested after allegedly beating three family members with wooden sticks in their Sen Sok district home on Saturday after an argument erupted between one of the victims and a woman staying with the family over a borrowed mobile phone, according to local police officials.
Sok Seiha, 31, his father Pech Pol, 55, and aunt Pech Chenda, 52, received head injuries when approximately 10 people reportedly attacked them after Mr. Seiha became angry due to the duration of a phone call between the lodger and her boyfriend.
“The son had given his phone to [the tenant] but a few minutes later took his phone back while she and her boyfriend were talking,” said Kot Khum, Toek Thla deputy commune police chief.
Mr. Seiha then had an altercation with the woman’s boyfriend on the phone, who arrived 30 minutes later with his friends on motorbikes, Mr. Khum said.
After the attack, the suspects fled the scene and the victims were rushed to a nearby private clinic for treatment and were in a stable condition on Saturday evening.
One suspect, who was only identified as “Rath,” was arrested Sunday, said Sok Kosal, a commune police officer.
