Takeo provincial police on Tuesday sent a woman to court for accidentally killing a toddler with a sickle.

The incident took place in Kiri Vong district’s Som commune, according to minor crimes bureau chief Yong Nhiv. He identified the suspect as Sok Nalin, 19, and the victim as Lo Sopheak, age one year and six months.

Provincial Scientific-Technical Bureau chief Lim Chanmony said on Tuesday the accident occurred following a dispute between two women. The boy happened to be in the way.

Before the incident at 10am, the woman was sitting and peeling bamboo with a sickle. A 50-year-old woman nearby was pan-frying cakes.

The suspect took a chair belonging to the woman and sat on it. The woman took back the chair while the suspect was sitting on it, causing her to fall to the ground.

While the two were arguing, the little boy came to get the cake. The suspect threw the stickle at the woman, but it hit the boy, Chanmony said.

The boy’s parents took him to the Kiri Vong district referral hospital around 2km from the scene, but he died on the way.

“The injury was deep in the chest below the left breast. It affected the heart and caused him to die,” Chanmony said.

He said based on the facts of the story, it was an unintentional killing as the target was the woman.