A mentally ill woman who attacked her ex-husband with a cleaver was arrested on Monday by police in Svay Rieng and is being detained while authorities prepare to prosecute her.

Seng Som Ol, the police chief of Sangkor commune, said Put Sreymao, 26, had been drinking wine with her ex-husband, Eang Thouch, 27, when he began teasing her.

She then picked up a cleaver and attacked him on his hands and head, Som Ol said.

Thouch received multiple cuts and was seriously injured, he said. “He had to be sent to the hospital immediately.”

Som Ol added that the couple had a child together but divorced a year ago because of Sreymao’s mental condition.

Prak Chut, the deputy police chief of Svay Rieng town, said yesterday Sreymao’s relatives wished to settle the case outside of court but did not have money to compensate Thouch.

“(Sreymao’s) relatives want to pay some money to the victim, but I don’t know if this is possible, because they are very poor,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Sarom at [email protected]