The Phnom Penh Appeal Court yesterday decided to delay its verdict on a 2016 murder case in which a woman was killed by a couple in Sen Sok district, Phnom Penh, due to the absence of the husband.
In court yesterday, Choun Nai, 35, who has been detained at Prey Sar prison, told the judge that her husband, Leung Sokra, 37, was confined at Trapaing Plong prison and didn’t know about the trial.
“The verdict could not be handed because the court requires the husband, who is also an accused, to appear in the court,” said Kim Dany, the presiding judge for the case. “The husband and wife were initially sentenced to 10 years in prison”.
According to the court’s records, on July 6, 2016, Chhoun Chantha, a 33-year-old fried banana seller, died in the hospital shortly after she was seriously injured by a cleaver which was allegedly thrown at her chest by Nai.
The accused was working as a sugarcane juice seller at the time of the attack. Leung Sokra, Nai’s husband, reportedly tried to take the cleaver from Chantha’s chest, but instead “caused it to go deeper”. Both Nai and Sokra were arrested by the police three days later.
Kim Keo Kalyan, the prosecutor, said the trial would take place sometime “in the future”, but did not give a specific date.
