A woman is on the run after shooting her soldier husband with his own AK-47 assault rifle in Oddar Meanchey province on Tuesday, apparently enraged by his repeated infidelities, officials said Wednesday.
Sem Theary, 30, allegedly turned her husband’s gun on him while he was at a Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) outpost in Trapaing Prasat district, where he was stationed, according to deputy district police chief In Lorn.
Mr. Lorn said the woman fired three times, with one round hitting the husband, Nem Vang, 28, leaving him seriously injured.
“He was hit by one round that entered below the navel and exited through the buttocks,” he said.
Mr. Vang was initially admitted to the Anlong Veng provincial referral hospital but was later transferred to the Siem Reap provincial hospital due to the seriousness of the injury, he added.
According to Mr. Lorn, relatives of the victim told police that the couple argued constantly over Mr. Vang’s numerous mistresses and Ms. Theary went to the military base in Preah Brolay commune after hearing that her husband was there with another woman.
Mr. Lorn said there were no witnesses to the shooting.
“I think her anger may have boiled over when she saw her husband staying with his mistress and she could not stand it,” he said. “Our first conclusion is this case happened because of jealousy.”
Trapaing Prasat district governor Novsam Dararith said Wednesday that Ms. Theary fled the scene after the shooting and remains at large.
“I have already ordered our expert forces to look for the suspect,” he said.
Nuon Nov, the deputy commander of RCAF’s Region 4 in Oddar Meanchey, said he was aware of the incident and confirmed that Mr. Vang was one of his soldiers.
“It is an internal family dispute; let the police deal with it,” he said.
