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Three suspected culprits of rape and murder in Rambree arrested - Narinjara News Online 24 X 7
May 31, 2012, 4:08 pm
Rambree: Three suspected culprits who allegedly committed the crimes of rape and murder in Rambree in Arakan State were reported to be arrested by the police on the night of 29th May after the local peoples gathered at the local police station and demanded them to reveal and arrest the culprits.
The arrested are identified as Htak Htak (23), Rafique (18) and Luyub (21) from Kyaukhtaran Muslim Village in Rambree Township.
Htak Htak was said to be arrested with the victim's jewelries in downtown Rambree first and his two other associates in the crime were also arrested on the same night from their residences in Kyaukhtaran Village.
"All three culprits are already arrested. People from 11 villages in our area marched to police station in Kyauknimaw and staged a demonstration demanding immediate identification and arrest of the culprits. So, the police immediately identified and arrested the culprits", said a resident from Kyauknimaw.
He said nearly 1,000 villagers from eleven nearby villages participated in the demonstration demanding police action against the culprits who committed the crime.
"That's the most heinous crime that may lead to a big problem in our area. The people are raged with anger and indomitable spirit. Not only the police, but also district and township administrations had to prevent the people. Otherwise the crime could spark a very big communal unrest", he said.
The source also said the police forces had to save two other Muslim youths as the angry crowd tried to get rid of them, believing them to be the offenders of the crime while they were being interrogated on suspicion of the crime in the residence of Kyauknimaw Villager Administrator, U Than Tun.
Those three arrestees were said to be sent to Kyaukpru district prison on the same night they were arrested because of the worrisome situations for them in Rambree.
Police in Kyauknimaw police station confirmed the arrest of three youths but denied to tell details about the case.
Kyauknimaw Village is today quiet and its market that used to be crowded is dry without people. There is no traffic between the nearby villages and especially no Muslim dares to go out from their homes in the area.
The victim is identified as 26 year old Ma Thidar Htwe from Thapraychaung Village in Rambree Township. She was said to be raped and killed by those three Muslim youths on her way back home after working in Kyauknimaw Village around 5 pm on May 28. According to the eye-witnesses, her dead body bears a slice at the throat, several stabs on the chest, and stabs and cuts on the vagina and pubic region.
The victim's dead body will be cremated in the afternoon on the 30th of May under the supervision of the local authorities reportedly to avoid any social unrest in the area.
http://www.narinjara.com/main/index.php/three-suspected-culprits-of-rape-and-murder-in-rambree-arrested
Myanmar Burma Muslim Buddhist Death Probe Aung San Suu Kyi | FaithWorld
Jun 7, 2012
[...]
The government has been quick to respond to Sunday's killings by a group of vigilantes who were angered by reports of a recent gang rape and murder of a local woman, allegedly by Muslims in predominantly Buddhist Rakhine state..
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/tag/myanmar-burma-muslim-buddhist-death-probe-aung-san-suu-kyi/
Four killed as Rohingya Muslims riot in Myanmar - government - swissinfo
Jun 8, 2012 - 19:42
YANGON (Reuters)
[...] The attack followed the distribution of leaflets in Rakhine calling for retribution for the gang rape and killing of a young Buddhist woman several days earlier.
Resentment of Rohingyas runs deep among Myanmar's predominantly Buddhist, ethnic Burman majority. The government and many Burmese refuse to recognise them as "Rohingyas" - how they are known outside Myanmar - instead referring to them as "Bengalis".
MRTV reported three men had gone on trial for the rape and murder of the woman on Friday, referring to them as Bengalis.
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/international/Four_killed_as_Rohingya_Muslims_riot_in_Myanmar_-_government.html?cid=32868366
Four killed as Rohingya Muslims riot in Myanmar: government
Fri, Jun 8 2012
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/08/us-myanmar-violence-idUSBRE85714E20120608
Maung Daw, Rakhine State, Myanmar - 8, June, 2012
In this afternoon, thousands of Bengali known as Rohingyas gathered and burned many houses of local residents, Rakhines. Most of local Rakhines (Arakanese) fled away from their homes for security purposes. Maung Daw at Rakhine State in Burma is now in chaos and needs immediate control over such riots. Many Buddhist temples were set on fire by Bengalis while rioters have destroyed local stores and shops owned by Rakhines (Arakanese).
Few days ago, an Arakanese lady was gang-raped and murdered by three Bengalis. Her neck was purposefully cut and vagina was found severely penetrated with sharp weapons. That case has raised tensions among local residents, Arakanese and newly occupying illegal Bengali immigrants. In response to such sexual assault, ten Muslim travelers to Rakhine state were beaten to death at Taung Gote township. Such consequential cases have sparked riots in Rakhine state.
Conditions seem to become worse when Bengalis started to shoot with their secretly stored guns from a three storey house of a money broker called Zaw Hein at Maung Daw. They shot into the running Rakhine crowds and reports say that injured were sent to Sittway hospital, capital of Rakhine state. An army official confirmed the news that they have already received information about collection of arms by Muslim terrorist forces in that area. Latest news suggests that Myanmar Army in Maund Daw is now confronting with armed Bengalis. Moreover, according to Lay Wa Dee media, Bengali guerilla forces were prepared before tensions started to rise which is why it may be considered as a planned action and foreign invasion.
Maung Daw is now under carfew and military control. Police forces are ordered to fire directly towards armed rioter Bengalis. Meanwhile, a well-known local GP Dr Khin Maung Latt and his wife were stabbed seriously by their Bengali housemaid. Resources approve that they are now at hospital and fatally injured.
Ko Ko Kyi, a student leader of 88 generations in Myanmar, made a press conference today regarding such riot issues in Rakhine state.
“I want to say clearly that Rohingyas are not belonged to any ethnic group in Burma. They have no cultural and religious ties with any ethnic group in Burma. Although we have avoided any potentially conflicting issues like racial riots, we have to say today that we will not accept any foreign intervention on rohingya issue without knowing true history of rohingya Bengalis. If some countries want to pressure on Burma/Myanmar for such rohingya problems, we will view it as a threat to our national security.” Ko Ko Kyi says.
In the mean time, Myanmar Muslim Association in Mandalay released a statement about serious condemnation on Rohigyas actions on local resident Rakhines (Arakanese). Currently, according to Yangon Press International, 14 villages were burned down and causalities were not known yet.
Contemporarily, famous exile media such as BBC Burmese, Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), Radio Free Asia Burmese( RFA Burmese), Voice of America Burmese (VOA Burmese), Irrawaddy Magazine and Mizzima Media were viewed by strong nationalists and social activists of Myanmar as major lobbyist for causing such racial tensions. Ko Ko Kyi warned that exile pressures can be one of the contributing factors for such chaotic conditions. On official facebook of a Myanmar Government officer, he requested that exile Burmese Media should not state rioting situations as Religious conflicts.
On facebook, a number of Burmese calling for boycotting such media and lobbyists were spread like wildfire provoking an idea that exile media are lobbying just for their self-interests but not for Burma as they officially announce. On BBC official web page, it was expressed that Maung Daw Islamic residents are protesting as a response to rising religious tensions. In fact, those Bengalis rallied at a central mosque and started to destroy local stores near Central Hall at Maung Daw. Political activists say that such transnational issue is not simply a religious conflict but a huge problem with Immigration Bureau of Myanmar. They said that local Rakhines (Arakanese) were long suffered from troubles created by corrupted staff of Border Security Forces at Maung Daw.
Han Yaung Wai, chairman of DVB, is usually accused of anti-rohingya campaigners as a conspirator in case of rohingya promotion due to released photographs in which he was signing a suspiciously rohingya-promotion agreement with some Arabs. Since there is no cultural and political connection between Myanmar and Arab world either in positive or negative way, Arakanese activists and nationalists accused Han Yaung Wai of bribery for suspected rohingya-promotion agreement.
Others campaigns are Burma Campaign UK, Rohingya Organization UK where Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, daughter of Mya Aye who is a student leader of 88 generation students, is now working, Bangladesh based Rohingya Solidarity Organization which can have connections with Al Queda according to wiki leak cable released from US Embassy Rangoon.
Most Burmese view this riot as foreign invasion supported by international lobbyist groups and exile media.
Myo Set
http://www.wontharnu.com/index.php/news?start=15
Buddhist-Muslim clash: Emergency declared in Western Myanmar
Indian Express - Jun 11, 2012
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/buddhistmuslim-clash-emergency-declared-in-western-myanmar/960543/
Tensions rise in Burma as Thein Sein declares state of emergency in western state
Burma's president has declared a state of emergency in a western state where sectarian tensions between Buddhists and Muslims have unleashed deadly violence.
[11 Jun 2012]
President Thein Sein warned that if the situation spun out of control, it could jeopardise the democratic reforms he has been instituting since taking office last year.
It is the first time Thein Sein has invoked the measure since becoming president. A state of emergency effectively allows the military to take over administrative functions for Rakhine State, a coastal region that borders Bangladesh.
The move follows rioting on Friday in two Rakhine areas that state media say left at least seven people dead and 17 wounded, and saw hundreds of houses burned down. The unrest spread on Saturday and Sunday, though order was said to have been restored in the areas shaken by Friday's violence.
In a nine-minute speech televised nationally Sunday night, Thein Sein said that the violence in Rakhine State was fanned by dissatisfaction harboured by different religious and ethnic groups, hatred and the desire for vengeance.
"If this endless anarchic vengeance and deadly acts continue, there is the danger of them spreading to other parts and being overwhelmed by subversive influences," he said. "If that happens, it can severely affect peace and tranquillity and our nascent democratic reforms and the development of the country."
The accounts in state media blamed Friday's rioting in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships on 1,000 "terrorists," but residents' accounts made clear they were Muslims. The unrest seemed to be a reaction to the June 3 lynching of 10 Muslims by a crowd of 300 Buddhists. The lynch mob was apparently provoked by leaflets discussing the rape and murder last month of a Buddhist girl, allegedly by three Muslim men.
The violence reflects long-standing tensions in Rakhine state between Buddhist residents and Muslims, many of whom are considered to be illegal settlers from neighbouring Bangladesh. Burma's government does not recognise the Muslims in the area, who term themselves Rohingyas, as one of the country's national minorities. Although the basic problem is a local one, there is fear that the trouble could spread elsewhere because the split also runs along religious lines.
"I would like to call upon the people, political parties, religious leaders and the media to join hands with the government with a sense of duty, to help restore peace and stability and to prevent further escalation of violence," Thein Sein said.
Shops in the state capital, Sittwe, were closed and the busy port city was unusually quiet Sunday, according to residents, though some neighbourhoods experienced trouble.
"Some houses were set on fire by the Muslims today in Sittwe and four Rakhine villagers arrived at the hospital with knife wounds," said Nu Nu Tha, a Sittwe resident contacted by phone.
"Almost all shops are closed and people live in fear that the Muslims might attack the Rakhine population. I am very scared and I have sent my children to Yangon by plane," Nu Nu Tha said.
Army troops had been deployed on Friday in Maungdaw and Buthidaung to help police keep order, and security officials were reported to have fired shots to quell the violence. Curfews were also imposed.
In contrast to the previous military regime, Thein Sein's government has been relatively open in releasing timely information about the recent trouble. Under the former ruling junta, such incidents usually went unreported or were referred to only in brief, cryptic fashion.
Thein Sein was elected with the backing of the military, but discarded many of its repressive policies to seek accommodation with the pro-democracy movement of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
In Burma's capital, Yangon, on Sunday, Buddhist monks and people from Rakhine state - about 500 in all - went to the Shwedagon Pagoda, the country's most revered Buddhist shrine, to say prayers for the murdered girl and those killed in the clashes.
Source: agencies
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/9323433/Tensions-rise-in-Burma-as-Thein-Sein-declares-state-of-emergency-in-western-state.html
Sectarian violence rages in Myanmar's northwest | Reuters
ANGON | Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:23am EDT
YANGON (Reuters) - Homes burned, gunshots rang out and witnesses reported many dead as sectarian violence raged for a fifth day between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists in northwest Myanmar on Tuesday, threatening the country's nascent democracy.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/12/us-myanmar-violence-idUSBRE85A1HF20120612
Myanmar Police Arrest 29 After Violent Clash - NTDTV.com
Created: 2012-06-15 04:41 EST
Myanmar's state-run MRTV showed 29 men on Thursday, who had been arrested in connection with rioting and arson in Rakhine State.
The police displayed bottles and knives which they say they had seized from the suspects.
Tens of thousands of Muslim Rohingyas and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists have been displaced, and scores of people are feared dead in the worst sectarian clashes Myanmar has seen in years.
Around 2,500 houses have been burnt down in 2 villages near the Bangladesh border, in rioting that broke out on June 8.
http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/news_asia/2012-06-15/myanmar-police-arrest-29-after-violent-clash-.html
Muslim-Buddhist clashes kill 50 in Myanmar: Voice of Russia
Jun 16, 2012 11:47 Moscow Time
In the last two weeks 50 people were killed and 54 wounded in clashes between Muslims and Buddhists in the west of Myanmar, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper reports.
The violence broke out in the Rakhine state on the border with Bangladesh. The authorities introduced the state of emergency. The clashes began after a group of Buddhists attacked a Muslim settlement to retaliate for raping and killing of a Buddhist woman.
TASS
http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_06_16/78302259/