Man Hacks 17yo Wife To Death For Going Back To Mum

Story BySimon GloverSub EditorJoseph GolderAgencyAsia Wire Report

WARNING: GRAPHIC AND DISTRESSING CONTENT

This is the horrific scene after a husband allegedly hacked his teenage wife to death with a machete because she kept going back to her mum’s house when they fell out.

Cops say Preab Mai, 23, tried to hang himself after the attack on 17-year-old Choum Theary but he survived when the rope broke and now faces a murder trial.

Mai was later arrested following the incident near the couple’s home in the Chirou II commune, in the Tbong Khmum district of south-eastern Cambodia’s Tboung Khmum Province.

Pictures Credit: AsiaWire

District deputy police chief Major Seng Sophath said the couple had only been married for a year but had a tempestuous relationship.

Their frequent arguments had invariably ended with Ms Theary storming out and returning to her parents’ house just 200 metres (656 feet) away.

The teenager would stay away for a week – despite the proximity of the two properties – before returning to her husband who had become increasingly frustrated at her antics.

Major Sophath said the couple had argued again on the day of the attack – once again prompting Ms Theary to leave the house for the short walk to her parents’ home.

But this time her husband lost his temper, grabbed a machete, ran after the teenager and hit her at least five times with the weapon from behind, the policeman said.

Major Sophath added: “He was angry with his wife, who often left him to live with her family every time they got into an argument.”

He added that Mai had attempted to take his own life by hanging himself, after he realised he had killed Ms Theary – but the bid ended in failure when the rope snapped.

The farmer has already appeared before Tboung Khmum Provincial Court formally charged with murder. He was remanded in custody and faces up to 15 years in jail if he is convicted.

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