A jealous man hacked his wife to death with a machete before hanging himself near his wife’s body on Wednesday in Kampong Thom province’s Baray district. Police
In an apparent fit of rage, a jealous man hacked his wife to death with a machete before hanging himself near his wife’s body on Wednesday in Kampong Thom province’s Baray district.
Baray district deputy police chief Ke Kanh Chakna on Thursday identified the wife as Mom Sokna, 22, and the husband as Sun Sokan, 38.
The couple, who lived in Chong Doung commune’s Kor village, are survived by their one-year-old son.
Kanh Chakna said police had not ascertained the motive but that, according to their neighbours, the couple had not been getting along with one another for some time as the husband was often jealous of his wife and was addicted to drugs too.
The husband was a widower, he said, who had remarried to Sokna, but the couple frequently argued.
Kanh Chakna said that on Tuesday night, neighbours heard Sokna pleading with her husband to stop using drugs.
They then heard an argument break out and Sokna shout for help, he said, but the neighbours did not think to go and investigate because they had become used to the couple’s arguments.
“We don’t know the real cause behind this case, but according to the victims’ relatives, it was probably due to the husband being jealous and addicted to drugs,” Kanh Chakna said.
He said that on Wednesday afternoon, Sokan’s father walked his grandson to the couple’s house and called out to see who was home.
When no one responded, he opened the door and saw his daughter-in-law lying dead in a pool of blood and his son dead in a kneeling position having hanged himself, Kanh Chakna said.
The grandfather immediately reported the incident to the police.
Police officers inspected the scene at 4pm the same day and noted that both Sokna’s hands were badly cut and she had also suffered injuries to her neck and left ear.
Kanh Chakna said Sokan had hanged himself from a beam and was found in a kneeling position near his wife’s body.
“We estimate that the pair died between 9am and 10am on Wednesday.
“If they had passed away on Tuesday, their bodies would have begun to smell, but the bodies did not smell bad at all,” he said.
