Police are looking to arrest a man suspected of sexually assaulting and killing a 19-year-old garment worker in Kandal province’s Mok Kampoul district.

The crime occurred at about 7pm on Friday in Krorl Ko village in Sambo Meas commune, police said.

Captain Hok Seang, a district police officer, said the victim’s body was discovered by villagers in a canal on Saturday at about 2pm.

“According to an examination performed on the body, police have concluded that before she was killed, the suspect had raped her and she fought back,” Cap Seang said. “He killed her by bludgeoning her to death with a piece of wood.”

After he killed her, he stole her belongings and fled,” he added.

He noted that police are now looking to question the victim’s boyfriend and others who were close to her.

Colonel Keo Pean, deputy chief of provincial police, yesterday said police are treating the case as a murder investigation.

“This is an act of murder,” Col Pean said.

• Tags: garment worker, Hok Seang, Kandal, killing, rape