Two men were arrested yesterday and charged with murdering a 41-year-old man just three weeks before he was to marry the younger sister of one of the suspects in Battambang province’s O’Char commune, authorities said.

Battambang deputy police chief Colonel Cheth Vanny said Teang Sophath, also known as Kuoy, and Reth Saroath were brothers-in-law.

They were charged by the provincial court with murdering Hourn Hun in Battambang town’s Ang village on February 3.

“They prepared a plot to kill him while he was staying alone in his farm. They killed him with a pocket knife,” Cheth Vanny said, adding they had wrapped the body in plastic sheets and left it in a nearby pond.

Villagers found Hourn Hun’s body the next morning.  

According to the police investigation and the confessions of the suspects, both aged 32, the victim’s family and the two accused men disliked each other, Cheth Vanny said.

The suspects had opposed Hourn Hun marrying the younger sister of one of the men.

The wedding had been set for February 23.