Two men were sent to Siem Reap Provincial Court yesterday in connection with the death of a 16-year-old Vietnamese youth.

Construction worker Sok Chamroeun was discovered floating in a reservoir at Wat Domnak village in the provincial capital’s Sala Kamroeuk commune on Thursday morning, said Duong Sokha, director of the province’s serious crimes office.

The authorities initially concluded that Chamroeun had drowned.

However, witnesses later told police that they had seen a gang of youths chasing Chamroeun and two friends while they sat on a bridge by the reservoir on August 10.

On Saturday, police arrested eight men and seized a sword and a cleaver.

Sokha said that after questioning, police believed that two of the men – Un Pheanit, 22, and Leab Noeng, 21, both of Svay Dangkum district – were involved in the murder.

Pheanit denied involvement, the police record shows.

Sokha said the two would be charged with unintentionally causing a death in the course of committing intentional violence. The charge carries a jail term of between seven and 15 years.