Sa'ang district police are searching for a suspect who allegedly hit his wife in the chest, causing her to die at the Sa’ang District Referral Hospital on Sunday.

The incident occurred in Sa’ang Phnom commune, Sa’ang district, Kandal province. Sa’ang district police chief Ros Chantha said on Tuesday that the suspect, 37, lives there but hasn’t been found. The victim Ny Leza, 22, was a garment worker.

“My people are trying to catch the suspect and we are working very hard,” he said.

Sa’ang commune police chief Lon Chantha told The Post on Tuesday that he could not assume the reason why the husband hit Leza but her relatives told authorities the couple had just signed divorce papers one month before the incident.

The couple signed a divorce letter with commune authorities but had not yet gone to court.

According to Chantha, witnesses said around 4:00pm, the victim was riding a motorbike alone and her husband was chasing her. He hit her in the chest and she fell to the ground. Relatives took her to hospital but she died upon arrival.

Citing relatives, a Sa’ang district official who asked to remain anonymous said a day before the incident, the suspect had accused his wife of having a relationship with another man.

Sa’ang commune chief Sar Vichet said on Tuesday that the couple had two kids, a boy and a girl, but he didn’t know their ages. In April, they went to the local authorities to get a divorce certificate but were told that local officials didn’t have the authority to grant it.

“If [people] want to divorce, it is their matter and it is not within our jurisdiction,” Vichet said.