The capital’s Por Sen Chey district police said they plan to send a man to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday after arresting him on Monday on suspicion of killing his female partner in their rented room.

Deputy district police chief Chea Sovann said on Wednesday that the suspect was a 23-year-old male and named the victim as Nuy Vannary, also 23. She worked as a hostess at a karaoke parlour in Phnom Penh.

He said Vannary’s family informed the police that the couple lived together but were not married. They argued frequently, Sovann said, and the suspect was often violent towards the victim.

On Monday, the suspect allegedly assaulted Vannary again, before storming out of the room. The victim’s older sister then came to check if Vannary was all right, but found her lying dead on the floor with a broken nose and a black eye.

She then immediately informed the authorities. “I think the victim was beaten so severely that she suffered internal injuries,” Sovann said.

In a separate case, a man who allegedly hacked his wife to death on Monday in Kratie province was arrested by the police on Wednesday morning.

The victim was killed in Kratie town’s O’Russey commune and the suspect was subsequently arrested in O’Krieng village, in Sambor district’s O’Krieng commune, after he had been on the run for two days.

Deputy Kratie town police chief Pang You Hok said on Wednesday that the suspect was 31 years old, while his wife, Kong Srey Toich, was 27. She leaves behind a five-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter.

“My specialist police are questioning the suspect first to make records before sending him to the police headquarters in Kratie province,” You Hok said.

The police in Kratie town had been hunting for him since the incident. They eventually discovered that he had gone into hiding at a friend’s house in the Srae Sraeng area of O’Krieng commune and arrested him on Wednesday.

The victim’s family told You Hok that the couple had been married for several years, and often argued.

The suspect frequently became jealous of his wife and she had asked for a divorce many times, You Hok said, but the suspect never agreed.

Kratie town police chief Net Lin said that on Monday night, when the victim went out to buy fruit smoothies for her children, she was intercepted and killed by her husband in a secluded area.

He said the suspect struck his wife and then stabbed her with a sickle several times. The woman died at the scene and the suspect fled the area.

After examining the body, Lin said, police found multiple stab wounds to the victim’s throat, the back of the neck, both hands and the body.

At the crime scene, police also found a sickle that was smeared with blood. A police officer said the husband was unemployed and used drugs.

He said the suspect did not help his wife raise their family, which led his wife to ask for a divorce and file a complaint with the Kratie town authorities.