Court sentences a gay man to a life sentence for murdering his partner by strangulation in a jealous range


Buth Reaksmey Kongkea

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on January 30, 2023, sentenced a gay man to a life sentence for allegedly murdering his partner by strangulation in a jealous rage at their rental room in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district last year.   

The murder took place at about 5:30 pm on April 21, 2022 on the outskirts of Phnom Penh in Stung Meanchey III commune’s Damank Thom village. 

The owner of the building later discovered the corpse on April 24 after it started to decompose and stink.  

Presiding Judge Tiv Kimpisal named the accused as Phou Seanglang, 27, male, who was working as a Chinese interpreter for a Chinese garment factory, from Preah Vihear province’s Choam Ksan district, Teok Kraham commune.

Judge Kimpisal named the victim as Khom Vandy, 26, male, working as a deliveryman for a transport company, from Kampong Speu province’s Chbar Mon district.                             

“The Phnom Penh Municipal Court decided to sentence the accused Phou Seanglang to a life sentence. The court ordered him to pay 20 million riels (about $5,000) in compensation to the mother of the victim,” said judge Kimopisal. 




He recommended the accused to appeal the court’s sentence to the court of appeal within the period of 30 days if he did not accept the court’s judgment. 

The accused was charged with “premeditated murder” under Article 200 of the Criminal Code, he said. 

He was arrested on April 29 last year in Preah Vihear province, after the murder on April 21 in Phnom Penh, after he had returned to his home in Choam Ksan district, near the Cambodian-Thai-Border, he added. 

Seanglang said outside the courtroom that he did not accept the judgment because the sentence was harsh given it was the first crime he had ever committed.

He will take his case, as advised by the Judge, to the court of appeal and ask the higher court to reduce his sentence, he added. 


During his trial, Seanglang confessed that he had killed the victim because he was angry with him for having an affair with another man and felt betrayed. 

Seanglang told the court that he and the victim were lovers and co-habited as husband (the accused) and wife (the victim),  

“I killed the victim by strangulation on the bed,” Seanglang said. 

“Before killing him, I put sleeping pills into his drink and when he became sleepy, I strangled him to death,” he said.

After killing him, he took his valuables, comprising money, jewellery, a phone and a motorbike, he then locked the room’s door and fled, he added.

 

 

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