A man landed himself in the Kandal Provincial Court on Thursday after allegedly strangling his wife to death in July and then burning her body. He sustained serious injuries to himself while doing so.

The 30-year-old was arrested on Wednesday after police had awaited his release from a Phnom Penh hospital where he was being treated for burns.

The murder in Kandal province’s Sa’ang district came after the suspect’s wife had demanded a divorce, police said. “The suspect was sent to court after he admitted to intentionally killing his wife.

“He argued with her after she asked him for a divorce. Enraged, he strangled her to death. Jealousy was also a factor in his actions,” Kandal provincial police chief Eav Chamroeun told The Post on Thursday.

A Sa’ang district police official who asked to remain anonymous said the suspect had told police that the couple often argued, and she had also accused him of failing to fulfil his duties as a husband.

The couple, who had a six-month-old son and two older daughters, had been sleeping in separate beds before the incident, he said.

The three children were staying with the suspect’s brother on the night of the murder.

On July 14, the victim asked the suspect to sign divorce papers, but the suspect refused and allegedly strangled the 33-year-old woman to death.

He removed her clothes and placed the body on a mattress. He covered it with the clothes and poured half a litre of petrol over the mattress before setting it alight.

However, he suffered serious injuries in the fire. Despite this, the suspect cycled to his father’s house where his family rushed him to a Phnom Penh hospital for emergency treatment.