A woman who killed a disabled polio sufferer who she said had tried to rape her was handed a 15-year jail sentence by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday.

Mok Vanthy, 32, slashed the throat of wheelchair-bound Phath Sovannara, 22, in August 2012 after he allegedly locked her in his parents’ home in Prampi Makara district and tried to force her to perform oral sex on him.

Presiding Judge Chaing Sinath read the verdict yesterday convicting Vanthy, a widow, of intentional murder with aggravating circumstances.

“The court sentences Mok Vanthy, also known as Srey Neang, to 15 years in prison and orders her to pay 30 million riel (about $7,500) in compensation to the [victim’s family],” she said.

Vanthy said yesterday that the court’s punishment was too harsh.

“I think that the court’s verdict is too heavy on me, and I can’t accept it. I will appeal to the Court of Appeal soon,” she said.

During hearings earlier this month, Vanthy said that on the day of the incident, Sovannara, her neighbour, had asked her to help him fix his TV remote.

Once she was inside, Sovannara locked the door, forced Vanthy to sit on his lap and showed her pornographic videos on his mobile phone, she said.

“He ordered me to perform oral sex on him like in the video. He attempted to forcibly rape me,” she told the court.

Vanthy, who said she had been forced to have sexual intercourse with Sovannara three times previously, had carried a knife in her pocket, which she said she then used to defend herself.

“I had no intention to kill him. The reason why I decided to kill him was to defend myself from him catching me and raping me.”