Sala Krao district police in Pailin province are set to send a woman and her boyfriend to court for the murder of the woman’s husband.

District deputy police chief Lor Puth identified the suspects as Chhorn and her lover Panha, both aged 42 and 31, and the victim as Sakhorn, 45. All three were residents of Stung Trang commune’s O’Kanthieng Va village.

“We transferred the two suspects from the Stung Trang commune police station to the Sala Krao district police station for questioning. We will send them to court tomorrow [February 8],” he said.

Citing the suspects’ account, the police said that although the woman was married to Sakhorn, she had taken Panha as her lover, with the trio sharing a house. Panha felt shame at seeing his partner’s husband everyday so they decided they would be happier with Sakhorn out of the picture.

On January 13, the three got drunk together. Once the victim was drunk the two suspects mixed alcohol and pesticide and gave it to the victim to drink. When he became unconscious, they used a motorbike to move him to a nearby cassava plantation, where they beat him to death.

According to Puth, a villager found the victim’s decomposed body and reported it to police. The investigating officers found that the victim had several fractures, and decided to question his widow and her partner, after which they were arrested.

Stung Trang commune police chief Sorn Vathu said that after the woman had married the victim, she fell in love with her boyfriend.

“The three of them drank alcohol every day and were well known as drunkards,” he added.