A mother and daughter were found dead amid a pile of burnt rubble after a house in Thma Koul district’s Bonsai Treng commune in Battambang burned down at 1:40am on Sunday.

District police chief Phong Sopheap told The Post on Monday that Kim Thoeun, 52, and her daughter Yai Sievmey, 18, were found by district firefighters.

“After an investigation at the scene, the two bodies were found to have bruises on their heads and necks and experts concluded that they were murdered.

“It was a killing, and then the suspect burnt the house to destroy the bodies and eliminate evidence,” Sopheap said.

In a provincial police report compiled by the quick reaction team and released on Monday, experts named Thoeun’s husband, Yai Leuy, 52, as the primary suspect.

Quick reaction team director Im Kosal told The Post that according to witness reports, Leuy was seen with his wife and daughter on the evening of the incident. But after the incident, he mysteriously disappeared.

Leuy could not be reached by phone.

“The husband was the first person to be suspected of committing this cruel act and he is now on the run from the police.

“Police still do not have a motive for the murders. We will know after the husband comes to clarify the incident to the police,” said Kosal.