TWO monks are facing murder charges after allegedly beating a man to death after he chastised them for drinking palm wine.

“We arrested two monks and another man for beating a student to death, and now we are preparing to send the case to court,” said Kuoch

Chamroeun, governor of Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district.

He said the monks became enraged after Veth Vireak, 24, a fourth-year medical student from Kandal province, scolded them for becoming intoxicated. The monks had allegedly downed 10 litres of palm wine.

“The monks killed the student because they were angry with him for telling them not to drink wine in the pagoda because it breaks Buddhist rules,” said Mao Saroeun, police chief in Steung Meanchey commune.

The accused monks had been ordained for five years, said Prum Vibol, a monk at the same pagoda. “It is so strange that these monks killed people,” he said. “Those monks are not real monks. They are former drug users.”

Still, some residents who live near the pagoda said the alleged attack reflected poorly on the monkhood.

“These aren’t the actions of a monk. They are the actions of a gangster,” said resident Khoun Manet, 30.