Kambol district police are searching for a suspect after his lover was found dead in a rented room in the capital’s Kouk Khsach village in Prateah Lang commune on Tuesday.

District police chief Hang Mony said the victim, 45-year-old Sok Khoeun, left behind two children. She worked at a garment factory and lived in Kansom Ak commune’s Chruol village in Prey Veng province’s Kampong Trabek district.

The suspect has been identified as a 43-year-old construction worker who also came from Prey Veng province.

Citing Khoeun’s daughter, 18-year-old Morn Sophea, he said the suspect was Khoeun’s second spouse and she had lived with him for about three years. A previous marriage to Sophea’s father ended in divorce.

Sophea did not live with her mother.

Mony said the suspect physically abused Khoeun every day. When she could not stand the beatings any more, she filed a complaint with the police, who released the suspect after reprimanding him.

“The offender used to cause violence, beating the victim until she suffered wounds,” he said.

Mony said on Tuesday at around 11am, a homeowner smelled a stench coming from the room where Khoeun was killed. The owner of the building cut the lock on the door and found Khoeun’s body. She then reported the crime to the police.

Police arrived at the scene with forensic officials and doctors to examine the body. They concluded that Khoeun may have been suffocated to death and that the murder occurred three days before on June 13.