The body of 19-year-old Ly Srey Pich, who had been abducted and held for ransom since Monday, was found strangled and dumped in a canal in Kong Pisei district’s Ang Popel commune in Kampong Speu province yesterday.

Garment workers at a nearby factory in Lovear village spotted the young woman’s body floating in the water 6:30 am yesterday, as they were arriving to work.

According to police, Srey Pich, also known as Srey Mey, disappeared two days ago, when her family reported her missing from her home in Tuol Kork district’s Phsar Doeum Kor commune.

Later, her family received a phone call from an unidentified man saying she had been kidnapped and demanding $40,000 in exchange for her release, which the family did not pay, Kong Pisei district deputy police chief Tuy Then said.

The young woman had been married at the beginning of this month and had family in the construction business, he added.

Police are investigating the young woman’s former acquaintances and suspect more than one person is behind the kidnapping and murder.

“She was killed and her body brought to be disposed of in Kong Pisei district in Kampong Speu province, after the kidnappers failed to get the money from her family,” Keo Sarun, a police officer in Kong Pisei district told the Post.  

He said that police were still interviewing family members in Phnom Penh.

No family members could be contacted yesterday.

The grisly find in Kong Pisei district comes as women’s anti-trafficking group Sisha investigates the separate disappearance of teenager Meas Bophea, 25 kilometres from where Srey Pich’s body was found.

The 15-year-old vanished from her family home on October 16 and has attracted a strong response on social media, with pictures of the teenager circulating on Twitter and Facebook pages set up in aid of her.

The teenager’s mother said she holds grave fears for her safety.

To contact the reporter on this story: Buth Reaksmey Kongkea at [email protected]