VILLAGERS EJECT MONK FROM PAGODA

Around 700 villagers ejected Si Sen, chief monk, from a pagoda in Svay Dangkuom village, Siem Reap district, Siem Reap province, accusing him of stealing and debauchery on Sunday. Local villagers were angry with Si Sen for having relations with a woman who frequently visited him at the pagoda and for selling off materials from the pagoda, including paint and monk robes, for personal gain and high profit.  Si Sen said that he had to sell the materials because the pagoda didn't have the budget to support him. He also said that the products were old and that no one at the pagoda could use them.

KAMPUCHEA THMEY

HIT MEN CONTRACTED TO KILL MAN'S WIFE

Yem Bun Theun contracted seven factory workers to kill his wife, Chan Sareth, at Phuom 6, Treng Tra Yeung commune, Phnom Srouch district, Kampong Speu province on August 8. Yem Bun Theun decided to have his wife killed because she persistently asked him to stop smuggling wood. The venture was not making any profit for the family, and Chan Sareth was fed up with giving her husband hand-outs. The hit men were paid US$1,000 for stabbing Sareth with a knife in the neck and stomach at her family home. They also received $600 for the first two unsuccessful attemts on Chan Sareth's life, in which she sustained injuries but did not die.  All seven have now been arrested.

RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

MAN DIES IN GASOLINE INFERNO

Seu Si, 24, died after his motorbike exploded during a traffic accident at Khvet village, Teuk Phose district, Kampong Chhnang province at 7.30pm on August 20. The accident occurred when Seu Si's motorbike collided with a motorbike driven by Thorn, who forgot to put his headlights on while transporting a gallon of gasoline. Seu Si died after the leaking gasoline spilled on his motorbike and covered his body before exploding. Both motorbikes have now been taken to the local police station.

KOH SANTEPHEAP

MAN DROWNS AFTER DRINKING SPREE

Pho Kroch, 47, who had been missing for two days after a drinking binge with his friends, was found floating face-down in a pond in Khum Rattanak, Battambang province, last Friday. Pro Kroch's older brother said that his sibling went missing for two days following a bout of heavy drinking: "The problem was that my brother was always drinking too much and never eating rice."

KOH SANTEPHEAP