Couple found mutilated
Tue, 11 October 2016
Khouth Sophak Chakrya

The bodies of a married couple in Prey Veng province were found with their eyes gouged out on Sunday, victims of a brutal murder police yesterday labelled “spite-driven”.

The couple were stabbed to death by an unknown suspect on Sunday as they were out picking snails in a rice paddy in Prey Pdav village, according to Kanh Chriech district acting police chief Ny Sarann.

“After examining the bodies, we found that the husband, Mean Yorng, 43, was stabbed in both eyes and ears. His wife, Kak Bunthan, 48, was stabbed in both eyes and struck in her mouth,” he said, adding that clues have led authorities to believe “it is primarily a spite-driven case”...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/c ... -mutilated

That's horrific.

Is it me or is the violence increasing, or is it just that there is more coverage on these issues than before.

To me, there seems to be a lot more very violent crime happening in recent years compared to when I first arrived, or maybe as stated above, there was just limited coverage on such issues.

To me it seems that there definitely is an increase over the years in this type of crime and also rape cases.

Reports of rice-paddy murders and countryside violence seem to be increasing, but more stuff is being reported on social media. News that didn't leave the village before is being "shared".

However, a large percent of petty murder and violent events remain untranslated from Khmer, so it's hard to tell if numbers are increasing based solely on the number of articles that appear in English.

I imagine that someone somewhere in Cambodia is collecting data on types of crimes committed ?

John Bingham wrote:There have always been plenty of these incidents, they just get more widespread coverage now and everyone has cameras.

Yeah I thought that would be the case. Were these reported in only the local Khmer press only and never made it into the English language papers?

After two days of investigation, the suspect, a 35 years old man, Kak Bunthan, living in the same village as the victims, was arrested on 10 October. The motivation behind the murder was because Mr. Bunthan was holding a grudge against the female victim. Under questioning, he told police that, the reason that he killed them because he was holding grudge again the wife. Every time he called her husband to drink with him, she always came and told him off again and again for calling her husband to drink. He was mad at her and was always finding a chance to kill her. Adding that, he attacked the first by pushing her head into the water which later the husband showed up and tried to stop him from killing his wife in which he finally was killed by the suspect also. According to Koh Santepeap News

The motive for the murders is distressingly trivial, and once again there is the involvement of alcohol, the idea of loss of face, and the disproportion of the perceived slight and the vengeance obtained.

Different name and age from that given by KS News, but same photo, so same perp:

28-year-old Chhay Heng, also known as Chhay Tung

.

Man Nabbed Over Couple’s Brutal Murder in Rice Field
Kanh Chriech commune police chief Pun Samoun said yesterday that 28-year-old Chhay Heng, also known as Chhay Tung, was arrested on Monday.

Under questioning, Mr. Heng confessed that he had killed 48-year-old Kak Bunthan and her husband Mean Yorn, 43, over a long-standing grudge he held against Ms. Bunthan. The two men had been frequent drinking partners, Mr. Samoun explained, and Ms. Bunthan had apparently tried to stop Mr. Heng from calling on the house to drink with her husband.

http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/30684/ ... ice-field/

Nephew Confesses to Murder of Snail-Farming Couple
by Chhorn Phearun | October 12, 2016

Kanh Chriech commune police chief Bun Somoun said the murders were committed out of revenge after Kak Bunthan had insulted Mr. Heng, comparing him to a dog and calling him “cheap” after he had asked Mean Yorn to drink with him hours earlier.
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/brief/nep ... le-119178/