A 21-year-old man was arrested Saturday by police in Kandal province’s Kien Svay district for allegedly throwing a cleaver at his 6-year-old nephew.

Yem Sokhum, the police chief for Phoum Thom commune, said that suspect Chhorn Raksmey was arrested a few hours after allegedly inflicting a gash on the child’s left leg, which required eight stitches.

“According to the victim, on the day, the suspect, an uncle from the mother’s side, told him to get some coconut fruit for him, but he said no because he was afraid of falling off the coconut tree,” Sokhum said.

Raksmey then told him to use a bamboo pole to procure the coconuts. When the child again declined, saying the pole was too heavy, the suspect allegedly threw the cleaver.

According to Pa Sam Eth, Kien Svay district police chief, Raksmey had confessed to the crime, calling the boy “lazy” and criticising him for not following his orders.

“However, I was really wrong to injure him seriously like this,” he allegedly told Sam Eth.

Raksmey was preliminarily charged with “violence against children”.

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