A major with the Ministry of Defence was stabbed to death by an unknown assailant in the capital’s Tuol Kork district yesterday morning as she was walking down the street to buy food, according to Phsar Depot II commune police chief Sderng Sarith.

Sarith identified the victim as Ly Davy, 36, and said the suspect had been riding a motorbike. “She was stabbed to death with a vegetable knife in the back, on the left side. The knife pierced the heart and she died immediately,” Sarith said, noting that the case did not appear to be a robbery as nothing was taken.

“It might be a spite-driven case,” he added.