Siem Reap city

A woman and her eldest daughter were brutally murdered in their home during the early hours of Tuesday morning after they were attacked with axes and had their throats slit in a suspected robbery in Siem Reap city.

Siem Reap police chief Mok Som On said Thai Lyhour, 46, and Oeung E Chheav, 20, suffered fatal injuries, butThai Lyhour’s youngest daughter, Oeung E Loun, 15, survived the attack.

He said that when he arrived at the crime scene around 1am, it appeared  Oeung E Chheav had been raped before she was murdered.

Six suspects, who fled to Battambang, were arrested after their vehicle’s tyres were shot out by police. One suspect was seriously injured.  

“We arrested six labourers in Battambang province eight hours after the crime occurred. They are all employees of the victim and escaped to Battambang with the victims’ car after they killed them in Siem Reap,” Mok Som On said.

Police named the suspects as Keo Channy, 20, Mok Het, 20, Ros Bori, 23, two men identified only as Kang and Kay, and a 16-year-old.

The suspects allegedly had an argument with Thai Lyhour, who managed a water purification company, on Monday regarding their monthly salary.

“This is the second cruel murder [this year] in Siem Reap,” the police chief said. In January, three women were killed by having their throats slit.

Mao Yin,  rights group Adhoc’s director in Siem Reap, said authorities were working hard to improve security in the province.

“The increasingly brutal murders in this city scare both residents and tourists. It was so cruel to kill the victims by cutting their throats,” he said.