Kampot provincial police arrested a man yesterday for allegedly cutting off the arm of his 1-month-old granddaughter before killing her by burning her alive.

The man, identified as Sok Sorn, 54, was allegedly angry with his daughter for having damaged the family’s reputation by having an affair and a child out of wedlock, according to provincial police official Lork Nhav.

“He is a criminal and he will be punished by the law,” he said.

According to Seng Sokunchan, Kampong Trach district police chief, Sorn had been charged with premeditated murder, and had “told authorities that he planned to kill his own daughter as well because he was very embarrassed”.

Sokunchan said that a few days before the incident, the suspect sharpened his axe and bought gasoline. Yesterday morning, Sorn grabbed the child from her mother – who fled the house – before cutting the girl’s arm off and setting her on fire.

The child’s mother reported the incident to police, who had to break a wall down to enter the barricaded home. Nhav said the suspect threw his axe at policemen entering the building.

“The police threw a smoke grenade and it took three hours for the authorities to retrieve the burnt dead baby while the suspect got a serious arm injury as well,” Nhav said.