Police arrested a man for allegedly killing an infant by cutting his throat and struggling against local authorities with a machete in a three-hour standoff. CPU
Police in Kampong Cham province have arrested a man for allegedly killing an infant by cutting his throat and struggling against local authorities with a machete in a three-hour standoff.
Kampong Siem district police chief Ek Van Dorn said the suspect, a 34-year-old resident of Ro-ang commune’s Tuol Roka village, was arrested on November 18 after he slit the throat of his 11-month-old foster nephew who lived in the same home.
Van Dorn said more than 20 police officers and village security guards surrounded the house as the suspect tried to fight them off with a machete. A 35-year-old village guard named Srun Nay Hort sustained a minor injury.
“During questioning, the suspect admitted to killing the baby by slitting his throat. The baby was his foster nephew. He said he did so because he was furious with his brother-in-law for putting too much blame on him,” Van Dorn said.
Villagers described the murder as a brutal act and demanded that police punish the suspect to the fullest extent of the law.
Nov Chenda, a neighbour, said that in the past the suspect had used drugs and gambled, specifically on cock fighting. Before the incident, the suspect had been scolded by his family for not helping enough with farming. He reportedly continued to drink alcohol and gamble.
“It is likely that the suspect was heavily drunk or on drugs so much that he could not control himself and killed his foster baby by slitting his throat,” she said.
Van Dorn said however that an initial urine examination revealed no evidence of narcotics.
“We tested the suspect’s urine samples for drugs, but the result was negative. Regardless, this is a heinous crime that the suspect committed on a helpless and innocent baby,” he said.
Citing questioning, Van Dorn said the child had been found abandoned near a hospital in Kampong Cham and the suspect’s sister and brother-in-law raised him as their son.
He said police would charge the suspect with “voluntary manslaughter and obstructing public officials” and send him to the provincial police for further legal procedures.
