17th September, 2018
A Cambodian farmer is facing life in prison after he allegedly used a sickle to behead another farmer, who the accused claimed cast a spell on him and made him ill, local media reported on Monday.
“Chin Chun, 54, was charged with premeditated murder at the Kampong Speu Provincial Court on Sunday after allegedly killing Hem Yim, 66, on Friday morning.
“Police said Chun was caught by villagers and turned over to authorities shortly after beheading the victim,’’ the Khmer Times reported.
According to a police report cited by the Times, Yim’s wife Sorn Suth, 56, denied the accusations of sorcery.
Suth said that on Friday her husband went outside to light a fire for cooking.
“While I was sitting in the house, I heard the sound of beating and my husband’s cries for help.
“When I went outside, I saw the accused running away with a sickle in his hand and my husband’s beheaded body on the ground,” Suth told authorities.
However, Chun was jailed pending his trial.
Assaults and murders linked to allegations of witchcraft and sorcery are recurring crimes in Cambodia, with those accused of being practitioners of black magic regularly targeted by individuals and mobs.