The naked corpse of a 51-year-old woman thought to have been sexually assaulted was found in a forest on Wednesday in Preah Vihear province’s Tbeng Meanchey district after she had been missing for two nights, police said yesterday.

According to Bra Me commune police chief Thin Channy, the victim was attacked as she was travelling back to her farm from nearby Bush Thom village.

Her body was found on Wednesday morning, some 50 metres from the hut where she stayed with her husband when they were working on a farm.

“Blood was seen on her body, and her forehead is seriously wounded, so it is a bit difficult to examine,” Channy said.

“She was stripped, and her robe, shirt and $100 in cash were seen near the body.”

When the woman didn’t return home, her husband and their relatives looked for her for two nights and reported her missing to the police, Channy said.

“The deaf husband went to a fortune-teller [before the body was found], who told him that his wife had just lost her way in the forest, and not to worry,” Channy said.

The fortune “was completely wrong”, he added.

The woman may have cried for help, Channy noted, but, despite being so near to her home, her husband – who is deaf – couldn’t hear her.

Adhoc provincial co-ordinator Lor Chann said a report from villagers suggested that she was raped and killed, because the victim’s “clothes were removed and her sexual organ was injured”.

District deputy police chief Soam Hai, however, said he was investigating the case but so far could not suggest any motive.

To contact the reporter on this story: Phak Seangly at [email protected]