The Takeo Provincial Court charged two men yesterday with “intentional violence” and detained them in jail for their alleged role in a brutal attack on a monk on Monday evening, while the man accused of instigating the assault was released shortly after arrest.

Yun Vannthy, Tram Kak district police chief, said the charges against Lem Seyha, 27, and Bres Samrith, 26, were linked to an attack on a local monk by 10 “drunken youths”.

Three of the group were arrested by police at the scene, while the others managed to escape. “But after the interrogation, two suspects [Seyha and Samrith] admitted that they used a wooden stick to hit the victim, who is their old enemy."

"The third suspect, Prak Samrith, a soldier, was not involved in this incident”, Vannthy said. But speaking from Tram Kak District Hospital yesterday, victim Norn Phally, 25, who sustained broken teeth and bruises across his body, said Prak Samrith was “the initiator” of the attack. “The suspect’s release suggests irregularities relating to the corruption,” he said.