A man was arrested in Kampong Thom province’s Sandan district after he allegedly used a machete to kill his wife yesterday morning, police said.

According Mao Boran, Sandan district deputy chief, the suspect, Vorng Keang, 44, was an alcoholic and had been drinking yesterday morning when he got into a heated argument with his wife, Oung Lorn, 38, whom he accused of being in love with another man.

“[He] always drinks wine and he has a mental health [problem] due to drinking,” said Boran.

He said the man then grabbed a machete, normally used to chop wood, and struck his wife across the neck, head, shoulders, and hands, until she died.

The couples’ 6-year-old son witnessed the killing.

“At the time, their neighbours could not help the victim because the suspect [still held] the machete in his hand,” Boran said, adding neighbours feared he would attack again.

When the man finally dropped the machete, villagers tied him to a pole outside his home and called the police, who arrived and arrested the suspect.

Keang will be sent to the provincial police station today.