Cambodia News, (Battambang Province): Police have arrested two men who specialized in thefts during large weddings and funerals. One of the men would mingle with the guests and pretend to be one of them, as a means of quietly stealing telephones and wallets that were left in bags or on tables, while the other man would wait outside with a motorcycle. Most often, they would wait until the family or overnight guests were sleeping at a funeral, then they would quickly go around and rob the sleeping people.

However, on 6 July 2023, the people and the authorities of Cheng Meanchey commune, Banan district, caught the two men when they introduced themselves into a sleeping funeral party just after midnight. The two arrived on a motorbike, and one man went inside pretending to be a funeral official, and the other man stayed on the road with the motorcycle. But the real funeral attendent was awake, and when he saw the man waiting outside, he thought that he looked suspicious. Meanwhile, the man inside was stealing from the sleeping family when suddenly the houseowner woke up and shouted "Thief!".


Cheng Meanchey commune police chief Thap Jinhap then ordered for the village to be searched, and the village guards stopped the suspicious man on the motorbike and took him into custody. The other thief was hiding in the village until daylight when he was also captured by the village security team.

The village was very proud to have captured the famous "night monsters", Chhay Chhour, 43, and Phal Sopheak, 34, living in village Ream Kun, Kear commune, Maung Russey district. The thieves went through the local villages at night, stealing from any funeral or wedding party where people were sleeping, and nobody was safe from them.

Police came to take the two robbers to prison, and they confiscated the loot that was stolen at the funeral to give back to the victims.