The Kompong Cham Provincial Court on Monday charged a villager with premeditated murder for strangling his 7-year-old neighbor after the boy kicked his nephew during a quarrel, police said.
Chann Hor, the deputy chief of the provincial penal police bureau, said Judge Thann Leng questioned suspect Huong Bunthen Monday morning and charged him with premeditated murder under Article 200 of the penal code.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
“The court already issued a detention order and we sent the suspect to the provincial prison for pretrial detention,” Mr. Hor said.
Mr. Bunthen, 33, was arrested on Friday, the same day he allegedly strangled Kong Piseth with a nylon cord and threw his body into a canal near their village in Stung Trang district’s Peam Koh Sna commune.
Mr. Bunthen apparently became angry with Kong Piseth after the child had a fight with Mr. Bunthen’s 5-year-old nephew on Friday morning and kicked the younger boy.
