A Phnom Penh nightclub singer was found dead in her Meanchey district apartment on Wednesday evening, allegedly strangled by her married boyfriend earlier that day, police said.

The suspect, truck driver Sderng Phea, 34, has a wife and three children in Kampong Speu province, but had been living with the victim, Mort Rey, 26, for nearly four years, said Mao Saroeun, Stung Meanchey commune police chief.

Locals told Saroeun the two had been fighting since the wife visited Rey about a month ago, after which the singer told Phea to get a divorce.

Neighbours became suspicious when Rey didn’t leave as usual for her evening job, Saroeun said. They called police, who arrived to find “the victim lying dead with her [jewellery] gone”.

Meanchey district police chief Teng Sino said officers spotted fingerprints on Rey’s throat.