Police in Oddar Meanchey province on Wednesday sent a village physician to the Oddar Meanchey Provincial Court after a man under his care died on Monday.
Provincial Criminal Bureau chief Yin Nareth said on Wednesday that the 29-year-old man was living in Kok Sampor village in Anlong Veng commune. The victim, Chhun Chhoy, 72, lived in Char village in Lomtong commune.
“The suspect was sent to court for legal action because of the death,” he said.
Anlong Veng district police chief Sin Vannak said the incident occurred on Monday in the village. After the victim died, his family complained to the district police.
He said the doctor had worked in the village for a long time and had an associate degree in nursing. But since he was involved in the death, Vannak said he had to follow the law and arrest him.
“My officers are duty-bound to arrest him, but what happens after that is not my job,” he said.
The deputy director of the Technical Office of the Oddar Meanchey Provincial Health Department, Khuon Paung, who investigated the case, said the physician had destroyed all the medicine he had used. There is no evidence to analyze to find out the cause of death.
“There are certain drugs which cause a reaction and could result in death,” he said.
He said the doctor had told police he was using only the drugs he had presented to the police. However, he burned others he had used which may have caused a reaction in Chhoy.
Chhoy’s relatives told Paung that his family first took him to the doctor on February 17, when he was feverish and exhausted.
Paung said the physician has a certificate issued by the authority, which is only an associate degree in nursing, meaning he should only be consulting or treating patients.
