Kampot provincial police have questioned a handful of potential suspects – both French and Cambodian – in connection with the death of 25-year-old French national Ophélie Begnis.

A district police official who asked not to be named said yesterday that he and others were instructed in a meeting to look for suspects who showed signs of having been scratched or lightly injured, as Begnis may have fought back before she was murdered earlier this month.

Kampot deputy police chief In Chiva said yesterday the meeting was led by the provincial police commissioner and district police officials, but would not give details.

Ouk Narin, deputy chief of forensics with the Scientific Technical Police Department in Phnom Penh, said samples drawn from the body had already been sent for testing in France.

The naked body of Begnis, 25, was discovered in the Kampot river with injuries to her head and arm on February 10.

She was last seen bicycling out of her resort in the afternoon on February 9.

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