Body discovered in Sihanoukville

A “BADLY decomposed”, unidentified body believed to be a teenager was found wrapped in plastic in Sihanoukville yesterday morning, local authorities said.

Sihanoukville police chief Phol Phorsda said that police received information about the dead body from villagers in Commune 4 at about 10:30am yesterday, after which an on-site investigation was conducted.

According to Phorsda, the time of death is estimated to be four to five days ago, and the victim is likely aged 15 to 16 years old. The cause of death, however, remains unknown, he added.

“Now we have buried the body near the scene . . . We have checked the body . . . but we do not know the result [of the autopsy] yet. We will not burn the body . . . in case her family comes to find her, we can check [the body’s identity] again,” Phorsda said.

Decomposing bodies are often temporarily buried by authorities given the lack of storage facilities.

Child Protection Unit (CPU) director James McCabe confirmed that the case is currently being treated as a homicide, adding that forensic samples of the heavily decomposed body have been taken for investigation and authorities are still trying to identify the body.

“We’re appealing to the public who might have seen a young lady wearing shorts and a T-shirt with the word ‘kitty’ . . . aged 14 to 16, to contact the authorities at Preah Sihanouk province,” he said.

Meanwhile, the CPU is still carrying out an intensive manhunt for the suspect accused of the murder of a 1-month-old infant and the attempted rape of a minor over a week ago, McCabe told The Post.

He added that the victims’ 4-year-old brother, who sustained serious head injuries during the attack, has been discharged from the hospital, though he is still receiving medical treatment.