July 1: Kol Yoeu, 44, was killed by an anti-tank landmine in Meun Chey commune,

Romdol district, Svay Rieng. People at the spot said that Yoeu found the mine and

took it from the ground in an attempt to take the explosives from the mine to be

used for fishing, but another trapped mine underneath exploded when he took it out.

July 1: Oun Kim Loan, 20, was shot dead while Ong Samith, 56, and On Savuth,

31, were seriously injured in a robbery committed at their house in Thmor Pech commune,

Tbaung Khmum district, Kampong Cham. The victims told police that at 10:30pm, a group

of about 10 people with AK-47s knocked on the door of their house. When they refused

to open the door, the robbers shot into the house. The robbers escaped after the

village militia exchanged fire with them.

July 3: A group of eight boys were arrested by police at Lux Guest House on

Street 115, Boeung Pralit precinct, 7 Makara district after they allegedly raped

a girlfriend of a provincial governor. The victim reported to the police just after

being raped. She said seven of the eight boys raped her. A K-54 handgun was confiscated

from the group.

July 4: Neang Sophea, 25, was chopped on his neck then shot to death by his

girlfriend, Heng Sochea, in Phnom Penh's Kandal market. Sochea, 27, then shot herself

to death with the same hand gun. A letter found in her pocket by police said that

she fell in love with Sophea on Nov 15, 1996, and later learned that he escaped from

her to have another girl.

July 6: A taxi driver, Chhav Mao, 22, was shot dead by a policeman, Sok Noeun,

at a taxi station in Phsar Thmei 2nd precinct, Dong Penh district. The brother-in-law

of the victim, Bou Hieng, said Chhav Mao had quarrelled with the policeman over the

parking of his car just before the incident. The policeman escaped.

July 6: Two unidentified robbers were shot dead by police after they robbed

a jewelry shop on Street 440, Toul Tompong 1st precinct, Chamkarmon district. Srey

Tien, 33, the shop owner said when she was packing her belongings to close the business

for the day, the two robbers pointed a gun at her and shot once into the air. Then,

they took the small bag in which she had put her jewelry and some money. The bag

disappeared in the course of the incident.

July 7: An activist of Sam Rainsy Party, Hong Thai, 32, was shot with an AK-47

while he was riding his motorbike in Boeung Tranh commune, Samrong district, Takeo.

He tried to escape the first shot but the criminal continued to shoot him until he

was seriously injured.

He died three hours later at Takeo Provincial Hospital. The Takeo provincial police

chief speculated that this crime was a robbery because the incident happened at a

quiet place where there are frequent robberies.

July 8: A Vietnamese electrician, Van Thanh, 32, was electrocuted at Indochina

Karaoke and Night Club while he was repairing an air conditioner.

July 9: Nget Lim, 47, was stabbed to death by his neighbors in Boeung Kok

commune, Kampong Cham district, Kampong Cham. A local authority said that he had

a land dispute with his neighbors before the incident. The criminals escaped after

the killing.

July 9: A manager of JJ Recreation Center, Sok Sokha, 45, was shot dead and

a policeman at the Ministry of Interior, Sieng Srung, 25, was wounded by unidentified

armed men while the victims were driving a motorbike on Monivong Blvd in Boeung Raing

precinct, Daun Penh district. The motivation for the killing was not known because

the assailants escaped in a car just after the shooting.

July 9: Nong Tha, 15, was chopped to death with a scythe on her neck by Heng

Sopheap, 17, in Svay Chrom commune, Rolear Phear district, Kampong Chhnang. The assailant,

who was arrested immediately after the incident and is being detained at the Kampong

Chhnang provincial prison, said that the victim had knocked her on the head first

and then she returned the knock with a fatal blow from the scythe.

July 10: Logn, a farmer in Pong Ror commune, Koh Sotinh district, Kampong

Cham, hanged himself from a tree near his house. He committed suicide just after

he asked his wife to go out to buy some medicines for him. People in the village

said that he killed himself because he felt so poor and had no money to treat his

typhoid disease.

July 10: Taing Vouch Tieng, 36, was released unharmed after her husband paid

a ransom worth $25,000. She was kidnapped on July 8 on the corner of streets 95 and

330 in Boeung Keng Kang 3rd precinct, Chamkarmon district while she was returning

from private school. The victim did not tell anything about the kidnappers to police

as she fears for her safety in the future.

July 11: A driver for a top official at the Ministry of Religion and Cult,

Yin Chomnor, 31, was shot and injured by unidentified men in a small restaurant in

Svay Pak precinct, Russei Keo district on Route 5 while he was drinking in the restaurant.

The assailants escaped after the incident. Police found a P-08 handgun at the spot.

The motivation for the shooting is not known.

July 13: Soeun Rotana, 10, was electrocuted at a construction site in Toul

Svay Prey 1st precinct, Chamkarmon district while he was trying to steal some fire

wood at the site. The people from the construction company said that they deployed

the electrical wire to prevent thieves from stealing their property.

July 13: A military financial officier of the RCAF General Staff, Ouk Sophoan,

41, was robbed of 76 million riel, $150, a watch, a necklace and a K-54 handgun after

he returned from the national treasury where he had drawn 76 million riel for soldiers'

salaries. A local newspaper reported that he was captured near the Royal Palace by

a group of eight people and blindfolded. The robbers drove him in his car to a place

he did not know. After they took all his belongings, the robbers dropped him with

his eyes blindfolded in Chamkarmon district.

-Summarized from Khmer-language newspapers Rasmei Kampuchea and Koh Santepheap by

Pok Sokundara