The victim was identified as Sokina Begum (not her real name), 18, the daughter of Ahmed (Name change), who hails from Thayegon Dan Village of Maungdaw Township.

On that day, at about 2 a.m., a group of Nasaka numbering three from Tun Chaung Village Nasaka out-post camp went to the said village on patrol and entered the house of Ahmed after breaking the door to search for his son over the allegation that his son had crossed the Burma-Bangladesh border illegally.

A villager from the locality said, “The son of Ahmed has not crossed the Burma-Bangladesh border. If the Nasaka wants the victim, he will be summoned to the camp. It is not necessary to come to his house at night and rape his sister.”

At the time, the son was not present there, so the Nasaka officers failed to arrest him. In the guise of searching for the son of Ahmed, the Nasaka personnel looked everywhere in the house with bad intentions.

At last, Ahmed and his wife were fastened with a rope to a pillar by the Nasaka personnel who then gang-raped their virgin daughter in the house before leaving, said another close relative of the victim.

“The next day, the parents of the victim went to the village chairman and complained about the rape of their daughter by the Nasaka. But the Chairman said, “It is not a concern of mine.” As the parents were discouraged by the chairman, they did not dare to go to the Nasaka camp to complain to the higher officials because of fear of harassment by the Nasaka.”

Burma’s border security force’s untimely entering at villagers’ houses at night in Maungdaw Township is unendurable for the villagers, said a village elder from the locality.

After entering the houses, the Nasaka pretends to search for some things before leaving the houses, but sometimes they want to attack women and girls if they get the opportunity. At night, if the house owner does not open the door, the Nasaka enters the home after breaking the door and harassing the owner.

However, earlier, Nasaka Director Lt. Col. Aung Gyi ordered the villagers not to open their door at night to anybody. But the Nasaka personnel break the order, said a youth.

Often, pretty or young girls are raped in front of family members. Rapes are reported to occur more frequently when men (husband, son, or father) are absent from their homes. Sexual violence is being used by the regime as an integral part of its strategy to crush the ethnic peoples, and establish control over their lands and resources, said a schoolteacher from Maungdaw town.