Sen Sok district police will send a woman and her mother to Phnom Penh Municipal Court after their arrest on Friday for killing the younger suspect’s husband during an argument over 10,000 riel ($2.50) in the capital’s Teuk Thla commune.

Hour Mengvang, Sen Sok district police chief, told The Post on Sunday that the wife is 20 years old and her mother 49. The pair will be sent to Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday.

“An argument broke out when the wife asked for money from the husband and he refused. This led to the killing,” he said.

The animosity between the married couple was growing before the incident, Mengvang said the younger woman told police during questioning.

The couple were married early this year, but while the wife had repeatedly asked the victim to register for a marriage certificate to legalise the union, he refused to do so. The couple were also resentful of each other.

Teuk Thla commune police chief Sok Sophal told The Post on Sunday that an argument broke out when the husband refused to give his wife 10,000 riel.

“The suspect said while the incident arose over 10,000 riel, they also had other problems,” he said.

The victim was feeling sick before the incident, Sophal said the suspects told the police, and his wife asked her mother to help take care of him. The wife later asked the victim for 10,000 riel, but he refused to give it to her.

An argument broke out and the husband began to strangle his wife, who called out to her mother for help. The older woman came to her daughter’s assistance and hit the victim on the head and neck with a meat cleaver. The man collapsed.

Fearful of his response when he regained consciousness, the wife used electrical wire and tape to tie her husband’s hands and feet. She then killed the victim by stabbing him twice in the neck with a small knife.

The suspects sought help from the father of the younger woman, who is a policeman. He told the two to hand themselves over to the police and confess to the crime.