AUGUST 26: An 11-year-old boy, Chey Chin, was killed by lightning during a

heavy rainstorm at 1:30 p.m. in Pralai commune, Staung district, Kampong Thom province.

District Police Chief Kuol Chhoeun said that the boy was struck and died instantly

while looking after his family's buffalo. Ten buffalo were killed at the same time.

AUGUST 26: Chan Ream, 51, was arrested for questioning after police suspected

he killed a 10-year-old girl in Rompoat Chrouk village, Svay Rieng province. Police

said the girl was found floating in a canal where she was collecting palm fruits

to make sweets. Police suspect Ream killed the girl after raping her because two

witnesses told police that they heard her cry out from a cottage on Ream's farmland.

AUGUST 26: Duol Prok, 49, was shot in the chest with an AK-47 while returning

home after drinking wine at 9:10 p.m. in Trapaing Kroeung village, Kampong Speu province.

He died instantly. Police suspect revenge was the motive. Prok's neighbors were not

happy with him recently killing Son An, 29, with an ax. People said Prok was a sorcerer

and a cruel man.

AUGUST 27: Police are looking for a woman, Cheam Mao, 23, who killed her baby

at noon in Slaket village, Kampong Thom province. A neighbor said that Mao dropped

the baby into a deep well then escaped on a moto-taxi. The neighbor said that Mao

was unhappy because her boyfriend left her 23 days after the baby was born.

AUGUST 27: Poung Oeu, 33, was found dead at 9:10 p.m. at her house in Peak

Sneng village, Siem Reap province. Police said the woman was chopped twice in the

neck and once in the arm with a heavy knife. Police suspect her 33-year-old husband,

Sem Sert, killed her because he was seen drinking wine with her in the early evening,

but has since disappeared.

AUGUST 28: Lightning killed a man, Chhoeun Sothea, 20, during a thunderstorm

at 4:30 p.m. in Kampong Sambour village, Pursat province. Police said that Sothea

was struck while standing near a buffalo in a rice field. His buffalo was also killed.

Police said that three other people died from lightning while staying at their house

in Svay village the previous day.

AUGUST 28: A 14-year-old boy, Ran Lor, was struck with lightning and died

instantly during a thunderstorm at 2:10 p.m. in Sopor village, Prey Veng province.

A witness said the boy was hit while looking after a female buffalo in a rice paddy.

The buffalo was also killed.

AUGUST 28: Police arrested Tem Khlen, 22, after he attacked his brother, Tem

Thol, 45, with a heavy knife while plowing a field at 7 a.m. in Chorng Moang village,

Kampong Chhnang province. Police said that Khlen attacked Thol in the head and arms,

but stopped and tried to escape after the handle of the knife broke. The argument

was allegedly over a land dispute. Thol was sent to a provincial hospital for medical

treatment.

AUGUST 29: Khaut Sothy, 39, a Khmer-American citizen, was freed after being

kidnapped for three days from a hotel room in O'Lympic commune, Phnom Penh. Police

said that Sothy was grabbed by two gunmen who pushed her into a Toyota 4 Runner car

then drove away. They demanded a $5 million ransom. However, police arrested two

suspects and they later found another twelve accomplices. Police said the attempted

kidnap was masterminded by a military official, Kim Vanthay.

AUGUST 29: A motorbike taxi driver, Noeu Pheakdey, 23, complained to police

that he was robbed at 3:10 p.m. in Khlar village, Kampong Speu province. Pheakdey

said that two neighbors identified as Bo and Sum, struck him several times on the

head with a pipe, then escaped on his bike. Pheakdey said that Bo and Sum used a

trick, asking him to stop so they could urinate while he drove them to their homes.

AUGUST 30: Khan Kean, 24, and his aunt, Khan Kuon, 30, were arrested for killing

Teas Sopha, Kean's uncle-in-law, four days prior. Police said that the pair killed

Kean's uncle-in-law, Teas Sopha with a heavy knife while he walked home from a drinking

session with some neighbors in Boeng Rach village, Prey Veng province. Police also

arrested Sopha's wife, Thon Chhunleang, 35, for questioning, as she had not reported

her husband's death to police.

AUGUST 31: A motorbike taxi driver, Sou Sokoeun, 24, was arrested after he

committed a rape the previous month in Prey Sar village, Phnom Penh. Police said

that Sokoeun raped a 14-year-old girl. The girl said that Sokoeun threaten to kill

her if she told anyone about the rape. Sokoeun confessed that he raped her four times,

but the girl denied this and said that she was only raped once.

SEPTEMBER 1: Police came to inspect the body of an American citizen, Albrittom

Terrence Hillary, 50, after he was found dead at 6:20 a.m. at a guesthouse in Psar

Thmei 3 commune, Phnom Penh. Police said that Albritton probably died four days before

because his body was swollen and giving off a bad smell. Police said that Albritton

possibly died from a drug overdose because he had been battling a long-term illness.

SEPTEMBER 1: Three gunmen escaped on a stolen motorbike after a robbery at

6 p.m. in Trapaing Chhouk village, Phnom Penh. Police said that the thieves shot

Sim Romchang, 21, in the shoulder with a handgun while he was sitting and talking

with his girlfriend. Romchang was sent to Preah Kossamak hospital for surgery.

SEPTEMBER 2: A woman, Khlauk Vy, 45, was struck by lightning and died instantly

at 11 a.m. in Prey Kuy village, Kampong Thom province. Police said the cloud became

black quickly then stuck the woman while she was standing near a cow eating grass

in a field.SEPTEMBER 2: Koeut Teak, 46, was stabbed eleven times with a knife during

an argument at 6:30 p.m. in Prey Sangkum village, Svay Reang province. Police said

Teak was attacked by a neighbor, Phay, 41, who escaped after the assault. A witness

said that Phay was angry because Teak had not kept his promise over a cattle trade.

The witness said that Teak had exchanged his male cow with Phay's female cow, but

later changed his mind and came to demand his cow back.

SEPTEMBER 3: A Taiwanese national, Huang Tsaihsiu, 43, was found dead at 2:40

p.m. at a guesthouse in Veal Vong commune, Phnom Penh. Police said that Tsaihsiu

died from disease because he had had a long-term illness. Police said according to

a medical letter authorized by Chhoun Minh hospital, Tsaihsiu was battling liver

cancer, intestinal disease and pneumonia.

SEPTEMBER 4: Khem Sokchea, 20, was knifed and severely injured during a family

dispute in Treak village, Kampong Thom province. Police said that Sokchea was struck

in the head and the arm by her estranged husband, Touch Ran, 25, who was jealous

of her. Ran said that he was angry because Sokchea telephoned another man. Police

said that Sokchea's parents, Sak Lan, 49, and Chhar Phirom, 44, were also knifed

while trying to help their daughter. The victims were sent to a hospital in Phnom

Penh for treatment.

SEPTEMBER 4: Kim Vanthay, a colonel in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, was

arrested for a kidnapping he allegedly organized in Phnom Penh. Police said that

Vanthay escaped to Vietnam after he and other twelve accomplices kidnapped Khaut

Sothy, 39, who is a Khmer-American. Police said the $5 million ransom was not paid

and the woman was released unharmed. Police said Vanthay was arrested by Vietnamese

authorities, who later handed him to police in Phnom Penh.

- Translated from Khmer newspapers Koh Santepheap and Rasmei Kampuchea by Aun

Pheap