Teenage Monk Hacked to Death

A 17-year-old monk was hacked to death in Kompong Cham province’s Memot district on Saturday night, according to Lanh Satya, provincial bureau chief of serious crime. The body of Khin Kosal was discovered in a garbage dump on Monday.

“On the monk’s head, there were five places that had been chopped seriously by a knife,” Mr Satya said. “We don’t know who killed him, and how many were involved yet.” Khin Kosal and Penh Vuthy, a fellow monk, walked to a rubber plantation in Choam Tamao commune on Saturday, according to Mr Satya. Khin Kosal, who was not wearing his monk’s robes, entered the plantation while Penh Vuthy remained behind.

While Penh Vuthy waited for his friend, he claimed he heard people shouting and ran away. Penh Vuthy returned to the pagoda without telling anyone what had happened. Later, Leng Yong, the chief monk of the pagoda, and other monks noticed Khin Kosal was missing and began to search for him.

Leng Yong said the two monks were temporary residents of the pagoda, adding: “When [the victim] changed his clothes, he was not a monk anymore.”

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