Police in Kampong Cham province’s Suong town released a 16-year-old novice monk from custody yesterday after he allegedly stabbed his relative, who is a senior monk at Kiriram Phnom Chan pagoda, officials said yesterday.

On Friday, Suong town authorities arrested novice monk Chheng Sok Kean who was living at the pagoda in Tbong Khmum district’s Vihear Luong commune after he allegedly threw a knife at 27-year-old monk Pen Bunly, causing serious abdominal injuries.

Suong town police chief Leang Eng said yesterday that Pen Bunly had asked him to close the case after both sides discussed the issue.

“We did not pursue this case further because the victim did not file a complaint and based on our investigation, we found that the victim had provoked the attack,” he said.

Novice monk Kang Ty, 17, a witness to the incident, said yesterday that on Friday Pen Bunly had used violence against Chheng Sok Kean after he acted contrary to a monk’s discipline by playing games with children in a nearby village.

He added that both men had walked to the monks’ residence where Chheng Sok Kean had taken a knife and thrown it at Pen Bunly.

Another novice Ruos Vanak, 16, said that the monks had sent Pen Bunly to the provincial hospital where he was in a serious condition.