Phnom Sruoch district police in Kampong Speu province are probing the death of a woman whose body was found on Wednesday in the toilet of a farm in Treng Trayoeng commune’s Veal Thom village.

District police chief Say Bunthon said the body of the yet-to-be-identified woman, who was in her 20s, had almost entirely decomposed.

Only her skull remained in the restroom of the uninhabited house, which stood on a farmland owned by Svay Rieng deputy provincial governor Som Bunnarith.

“We have been unable to identify the victim because we didn’t find any clues or documents related to her at the crime scene. We just know the woman was not a resident of the village. We concluded that it is a case of murder,” he said.

Found by neighbours

The body was discovered by villagers who noticed a horrible smell while picking vegetables near the restroom and reported to police.

Neighbours Toeng Pav and her husband Sor Hon said they were finding edible leaves for cooking near the restroom when they whiffed the smell of something rotting. Upon investigation, they sniffed out the corpse.

Bunthon, the district police chief, said the body would be cremated at a pagoda near the scene, and that the investigation was ongoing.

Deputy Svay Rieng provincial governor Bunnarith could not be reached for comment on Thursday.