A man allegedly fatally attacked his step-brother with a machete in Svay Rieng province on Saturday after an argument over a fishing spot had turned violent.

Pin An, district chief of police in Svay Chrum, said Nev Malat, 52, tried to flee the scene scene but was arrested after attacking his step-brother, Prom Som Oeun, 47, who was sent to hospital in Vietnam. Som Oeun succumbed to his injuries on Sunday.

Malat claimed that he was merely acting in self-defence after his step-brother destroyed his fishing net and began attacking him with a stick.

“We are as close to each other as brothers, but he became bad, and he did not allow me to deploy the fishing net . . . I needed to defend myself by using the machete,” he said, according to a police report.

But So Oeun’s daughter Prom Bopha, 21, denied Malat’s version of events and is demanding $10,000 in compensation.

Malat was charged at the Svay Rieng Provincial Court with intentional violence causing death and is being detained awaiting trial.