Suspects from a cosmetic surgery clinic in Phnom Penh that performed breast enhancement surgery on a 36-year-old woman who died days later of an organ infection “escaped” before they could be questioned, a police official said on Wednesday.
Ros Sokny, a television vendor from Kratie province, went to De Beaute Clinic in Russei Keo district last Thursday to undergo a $3,000 breast implant surgery, according to her husband, Phai Veasna. On Sunday, she died of septic shock in a nearby clinic.
The municipal court ordered De Beaute Clinic to close the next day pending a police investigation into the death. The probe has proved inconclusive thus far, deputy municipal police chief Song Ly said on Wednesday.
“The investigation is still ongoing,” he said. “Some people have been questioned, but some people have also escaped.”
Mr. Ly said he was not sure how many suspects had evaded police, but added that officers were “looking for them.”
He directed further questions to Srey Makny, the deputy prosecutor who ordered the clinic’s closure, and Khin San, chief of police in Chamkar Mon district, where Mr. Veasna filed a complaint with police. Mr. Makny could not be reached, while Mr. San said he was unaware of the details of the investigation.
It was unclear if Phe Thong, the doctor who owns the clinic, was among those being sought.
Mr. Veasna, the widower, said police had been uncommunicative since his wife died.
“I haven’t yet heard from the police about it,” he said. “When I finish my wife’s seven-day funeral, I will go to Phnom Penh to ask about my wife’s death…. I can’t be quiet about this.”
Since Ros Sokny’s death was announced, De Beaute Clinic has received a litany of angry posts to its Facebook page. “Put the owners of this clinics to JAIL and charge them at least 1 million dollars for killing innocent women,” wrote a user named Oska Yi.
The iron door in front of the clinic remained locked on Wednesday. Representatives of the clinic could not be reached.
