A monk in Battambang town was arrested late Wednesday evening for drinking alcohol and having sex with a woman reported to be his ex-wife, officials said yesterday.

Colonel Cheth Vanny, deputy police chief of Battambang province, said that Teab Sony, 52, was arrested after police raided a guesthouse in Tuol Ta Ek commune and caught him preparing to have sex with his ex-wife, whom he had been separated from since joining the monkhood in 2003. Teab Sony often stayed with his ex-wife and drank alcohol when he visited Battambang town, the deputy police chief added. “He has now been sent to the provincial cults and religion department for questioning and expulsion from the monkhood,” Cheth Vanny said.