‘Jealous’ man arrested for allegedly slitting wife’s throat in Cambodia

The man was arrested for allegedly slitting his wife’s throat in Phnom Penh on May 27. - POLICE/Phnom Penh Post-ANN

PHNOM PENH (The Phnom Penh Post/Asia News Network): A man who is alleged to have killed his wife in a jealous rage in Boeung Kak I commune of the capital’s Tuol Kork district on Friday (May 27) will be sent to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

Municipal police spokesman San Sok Seiha said on May 29 that 27-year-old Phuong Ratha was arrested the day after his wife’s death.

“We will probably send the suspect to court on Monday morning [May 30]. Today, we are still questioning him,” he said.

Eng Sophea, chief of the municipal police’s serious crimes bureu, said the suspect was arrested in Prek Pnov district following an investigation carried out by municipal police in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior’s penal department and Takeo provincial police.

Sophea did not offer details about the case, but according to a video clip, the suspect told police during questioning that he had killed his wife because of jealousy.

“I was jealous because I felt like my wife was acting differently. I didn’t beat her before I killed her. I used a white knife to cut her throat,” he said.

A Boeung KakI district police officer who asked not to be named said the suspect and his wife had a three-year-old son and lived in a rental unit. The son lived with the woman’s parents in Takeo province, while she worked as a cleaner in the Borey Sunway gated community in Tuol Kork district.

He added that the death likely happened early in the evening of May 27, as neighbours found the body in a pool of blood and notified officers around 7pm.

“The victim was found face down on a tiled floor with her throat cut. Only the couple lived in the [rental] unit,” he said.