A man who allegedly seriously injured his former wife by burning her was charged at the Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court yesterday with attempted murder.

The perpetrator, Rin Chamreoun, 30, allegedly doused his ex-wife Kun Sopheap, 25, with petrol and set her alight last November in the province’s Svay Chek district as an act of revenge, according to provincial military police chief Or Borin.

“He used about one litre of petrol to pour on his former wife and lit a lighter to burn her,” Borin said “He seriously injured most of her body, but the neighbour saw the incident and helped the woman in time.”

Chamreoun and Sopheap married in 2006, but the two divorced about a year ago. Sopheap worked in Thailand following the divorce and lived with another man before coming back to Svay Chek in November.

Chamreoun found out about Sopheap’s return and plotted to burn her at her house due to jealousy of the other man, Borin added.

“The perpetrator fled to another place after he did this cruel act to his wife. But we got the complaint from the victim’s family and we performed an investigation and eventually arrested him,” he said.

Police arrested Chamreoun after he returned to the district on Wednesday. He is being detained in prison for further investigation.

“He suspected we forgot the crime, but we never did,” Borin said.