A retired nurse who allegedly continued to practice medicine without a licence may now be facing a criminal charges after one of his patients died in Svay Rieng on Saturday.

Pet Samoeun, Svay Chrum commune police chief, said yesterday that villagers reported the death of patient Preab Sovan, 44, after he allegedly went to see retired nurse Sok Hin, 71, who was also the village chief.

“The suspect fled immediately after the victim died. Authorities are searching for him,” Samoeun said.

Samoeun added that the victim’s family did not file a civil complaint, but that local police were seeking to press charges over the incident as a criminal matter.

Sovan’s wife, Pharng Saran, told Samoeun that her husband went to Hin’s home on Saturday evening because he was suffering from hay fever. Soon after, Hin’s son called Saran panicking. When she arrived, her husband was already dead.

Keo Rotha, Svay Rieng provincial health director, said yesterday that health officials observed an apparent injection site on the victim, but were unable to identify the substance.

“Our authorities could not find the syringe or medicine bottle,” Rotha said.

He continued that a complaint has been prepared and sent to the provincial court with a preliminary charge of “treating a patient illegally causing death”.

“The suspect used to work as the nurse at Svay Chrum District Referral Hospital, but he’s retired, so he has no right to provide medical services,” Rotha said.

Many Cambodians seek help from unlicensed caretakers because of the high costs of formal health care.