Waiter charged over arson attack on eatery

Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Saturday detained a 30-year-old man after charging him with attempting to burn down a restaurant in Phnom Penh’s Prampi Makara district on January 7. Police arrested the suspect, a waiter at the restaurant, who confessed that a woman hired him to torch the premises. The man has been charged with arson. Police said they are looking for the woman supposedly connected with the case. KOH SANTEPHEAP

Teenager arrested over rape of 17-year-old

An 18-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl on the grounds of a primary school in Banteay Meanchey province’s Mongkol Borei district on Friday. The woman was drinking with four men in her village on Thursday night before the suspect drove her home at about 11pm then stopped at a nearby school and raped her. Police said that the man was sent to court after confessing his guilt under questioning. KOH SANTEPHEAP

Alcoholic commits suicide at porridge stall

Police said a 36-year-old alcoholic man who was “ignored by his wife” committed suicide on Saturday in Kampong Speu province’s Phnom Sruoch district. According to police, the man left home for a porridge stall in his village. He reportedly complained that he was upset, then grabbed a knife from a porridge seller and stabbed himself in the throat. The man died instantly at the scene. KOH SANTEPHEAP

Man accused of taking vendor’s vegetables

Police arrested a 30-year-old man on suspicion of theft and purchasing stolen property in Battambang province’s Battambang town on Friday. Police said a 29-year-old vegetable seller filed a complaint with police after his vegetables and cart were stolen on January 10. Police arrested the suspect when they found the cart at his home. The man denied the accusations, claiming that another man left the cart at his home after he refused to buy it. Police sent the man to the provincial court for questioning. RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

Motorbike, tractor crash claims two

Two men died and one man was critically injured in a traffic accident in Banteay Meanchey province’s Thma Puok district on Thursday. Police said that two men drove a motorbike into a parked tractor on their way home from a concert at about 10:30pm. The tractor driver, aged 20, and the motorbike driver, aged 23, died in hospital. The other man remains in critical condition. Police said the two men on the motorbike were not wearing helmets at the time of the accident. RASMEY KAMPUCHEA