A 2-year-old girl was devoured alive right after tripping and falling into a pit of crocodiles on her family farm, say police in Cambodia.
Rom Roath Neary’s mother is said to have lost sight of her while she was busy caring for her newborn baby.
The youngster was reporter to have wandered away from the house near Siem Reap on Monday morning and sadly, wasn’t seen alive again.
The girl’s father, Min Min, aged 35, returned home at 10 a.m. and started to look for the missing toddler.
In a horrific sight, he discovered his daughter’s skull stripped of flesh on the ground of a concrete enclosure where the crocs swim in a pool.
Local media showed harrowing pictures of mom of three, Nay Is, aged 32, completely devastated in tears as she clutched the toddler’s remains to her chest.
Police Chief Capt. Chem Chamnan said: “Her father found only her skull in the crocodile enclosure, where she was killed by crocodiles.”
Officers said that the toddler had been at home with her mother, who had just given birth and was taking care of the newborn.
She then left the house and went to play on the land around the crocodile farm, which was just behind the property.
Police said the family had just built a fence around the 10-foot-high concrete pool, but children were still small enough to fit through the gaps.
Lt. Och Sophen, chief of Siem Reap commune police, said the mother “lost sight of” 2-year-old Rom.
He added: “When the father came back home, he couldn’t find his daughter in the house. He found a skull in the crocodile enclosure.
“He confirmed that the daughter fell into the crocodile enclosure and that the crocodiles killed her, leaving only her skull.”
Officers urged other families to take extra care to prevent children from getting into crocodile farms.
The animals are kept to produce leather and meat.