OCTOBER 7: Three robbers shot dead So Phany, 23, and stole his motorbike while he was carrying his friend Ym Sothea, 24, at 7:10 am in Prek Chik village, Banteay Meanchey province. Sothea said the robbers shot Phany in the head with a K-54 handgun then rode away on his bike.

OCTOBER 7: Chum Chhea, 25, was shot dead at 9:30 pm in a paddy field in Pralai village, Kampong Cham province. Police said Chhea, son of a Dam Rel commune deputy administrative police chief, was shot twice in the chest and the ear with an AK-47, probably while he and three friends were hunting frogs. Police said they knew of no motive.

OCTOBER 8: A blacksmith, Nay Chhoeun, 25, was sent to a clinic after being knifed at 8:20 pm while staying at a construction site in Prek Leap commune, Russei Keo district, Phnom Penh. A worker told police ten people entered the site and chopped Chhoeun four times in the head and the back then escaped. The worker said one of those people, named Pheat, had argued with him and Chhoeun the previous day.

OCTOBER 8: Mao Sophearith, 22, was fatally gunned down in a robbery at 1:20 pm in Kbal Spean village, Banteay Meanchey province. Police said Sophearith was shot in the head by two robbers who stole his new motorbike.

OCTOBER 9: A group of gangsters escaped on a motorbike they stole from Mit Chao, 51, whom they murdered while he was carrying two neighbors at 8:30 pm in Sak Makum village, Prey Veng province. Police said the gangsters blocked the victims and attacked them with axes and sticks. They killed Chao; the neighbors, Man Mayak, 48, and Sar Haut, 40, were severely injured and sent to a hospital in Vietnam.

OCTOBER 10: Surn, 39, was beaten to death while playing cards during a drinking session at 10:10 am in Serey village, Kampong Chhnang province. Police said Surn was struck on the head with a bamboo stick by Ou Sam Eath, 45, who had been drunk. Eath was arrested and told police that he was angry as Surn knocked his head with a slipper as he owed him 200 riel for losing the game.

OCTOBER 11: Lim Heang, 44, was found hanging dead in a tree at 6:15 am in Spak Reach village, Kampong Chhnang province. But police said Heang was murdered elsewhere and his body hung in the tree with a tiny rope that would have broken if Heang hanged himself.

OCTOBER 11: A motorbike taxi driver, Nhim Puothy, 36, died on the way to a clinic after he was shot during a robbery at 6:30 pm in Phnom Penh Thmey commune, Phnom Penh. A witness said Puothy was shot in the chest with a handgun by one of his two passengers, who escaped on his bike.

OCTOBER 12: Hong Peng An, 30, was sent to a provincial hospital for surgery after his sister, Hong Sileng, 39, stabbed him in the stomach with a spear during a nighttime argument in Spean Chhoeu village, Kampong Cham province. Police said they argued after Peng An asked Sileng not to sing a karaoke song because she was disturbing the neighbors.

OCTOBER 13: Ung Kimlong, 33, who worked at the Military Police Headquarters, was sent to Calmette Hospital for surgery after attempting suicide about 5 am at his house in Psar Depot 1 commune, Phnom Penh. Police said Kimlong shot himself three times in the neck, the temple and the stomach with a K-59 handgun after he had argued with his wife.

OCTOBER 14: A youth, Tun Teng, 19, was killed by his father at 8:30pm as they fought in Dar village, Kampong Chhnang province. Police said Teng was stabbed in the chest with a spear by his father, Siv Soeun, 30. Soeun was arrested and told police he was angry as his son hit him with a stick after he refused to lend him a slingshot for hunting birds.

OCTOBER 14: Police arrested In Tony, 21, who had escaped after murdering his grandfather two weeks earlier in Kravean Thom village, Kampong Cham province. Police said Tony killed his grandfather, Srey Auk, 73, and stole his motorbike and 500,000 riel in cash. Tony told police he knocked down his grandfather with a stick and killed him with a knife.

OCTOBER 14: Sim Ang, 36, was found floating in a stream in Trapaing Kdol village, Kampot province. Police said Ang was killed with a hammer elsewhere and his body dumped there. They said revenge was the reason because he recently argued with three people during a drinking session. Police later found the killer, identified as Kong Pros, but he escaped with his family.

OCTOBER 15: Police arrested four people and charged them with murder after they killed a man during a drinking session brawl at midnight at a restaurant in Steung Thmey village, Siem Reap province. Police said the assailants, Sam Sody, 25, Sam Vuthy, 24, Chheng Sotheara, 22, and Leng Vichea, 31, killed Chhim Samarth, 27, who had led his friends in fighting the four.

OCTOBER 15: A 15-year-old girl was raped while walking to see a dance at night in Chroap village, Siem Reap province. The girl told police that Vong Sear, 64, raped her after he got drunk at a neighbor's party. The girl said Sear tied up her arms and pushed her into a nearby cottage then raped her. Police arrested Sear, who later confessed.

- Translated from Khmer newspapers Koh Santepheap and Rasmei Kam puchea by Aun Pheap