Khuth Sophal, 46, has been put in custody after he was charged on Tuesday for the murder of his wife Yath Srey Pov, 45. The killing took place last week in Ponhea Leu district’s Tomnup Thom commune, said the Kandal provincial court.

Kandal provincial deputy police chief Roeung Nara told The Post on Wednesday that the accused, a security guard at a garment factory, was sent to court on Tuesday after his arrest at a wetland in Kampong Chhnang province. He had been hiding there for five days following the killing.

“He was charged with murder as per Article 199 of the Criminal Code and was put in pre-trial detention,” Nara said.

The victim was reported to have been struck on the head and other parts of her body with a machete. She was found dead in a rice field on November 21, said Kandal provincial police chief Eav Chamroeun.

“After the incident, the accused escaped and hid in the flooded forestry of Tonle Sap but was caught by Kampong Chhnang police,” Chamroeun said.

The Ponhea Leu district police report said Sophal and his wife had a heated row the night before the incident, after which he was seen by neighbour Duch Pech, 56, beating his wife at the rice field.

Upon witnessing the scene, Pech tried to intervene but was yelled at by Sophal so he eventually walked away.

At 2am on the day the victim’s body was found, Sophal had reportedly rushed to his sister-in-law’s house and had asked her to take the victim to the hospital, before running away.

However, as it was still dark at the time, the sister did not look for the victim. “After breaking one of her arms, the accused strangled the victim and hacked her on the head with a machete,” the report read.