Chinese Female Director Dies in Fall in Cambodia, Two Friends Detained for Suspected Violent Death

(Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 11th) 23-year-old Chinese director and producer Lai Yuqing died after falling from a building in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. After investigation, Cambodian police detained her two friends, an Indian man and a Chinese woman, on suspicion of intentional violence causing death.

In the early morning of December 30 last year at 12:30 a.m., Lai Yuqing fell from a residential building in Phnom Penh and was sent to the hospital, but succumbed to her injuries around 5 p.m. on January 2 this year.

According to police investigation, the ground floor of the residence where the incident occurred was self-occupied by the landlord, while the first and second floors were rental units. The first floor was rented by the aforementioned arrested man and woman, JATLA SIDDARTHA and LI FANG; the second floor was rented by a French man.

Surveillance footage shows that around 11:22 p.m. on December 29, when a French man returned home and opened the gate, the deceased was standing outside. The deceased was then brought inside and entered the upstairs living area. By about 12:30 a.m. on December 30, surveillance recorded voices talking upstairs, followed by the victim falling from a height. An Indian man and a Chinese woman then immediately went downstairs to check on and assist the injured.

The hospital's death certificate showed that the deceased died from severe head and body trauma. Police also collected fingerprint evidence from a railing at the scene as evidence for further investigation.

Lai Yuqing's ancestral home was in Fujian, born in Tianjin, and she studied in New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto. She had participated in the production of several short and feature films as a director, actress, and musician. Her short film "Love is a Book" was the opening film at the 2022 World Ethnic Film Festival, and her debut feature film "Tidal Whisper" was selected and premiered at the 30th Busan International Film Festival.