Maungdaw, Arakan State: Maungdaw police officers do not respect females’ rights, especially regarding sexual abuse, said a relative of a victim in Thanda Village under Maungdaw Township.
A village administration head officer who had a complaint of sexual abuse filed against him was released from police custody yesterday.
Fetayma (not her real name), the mother of four children, was sexually abuse by the village administration head of Thanda Village last week, according to a village elder from the same village.
“Fatayma stayed in the village with her children peacefully with the support of her husband who is working in Malaysia.”
“Without a male in the house, a female staying alone with children in a rural area is in a lot of danger if someone wants to abuse her.”
“Fatayma filed a case against the village administration head regarding the sexual abuse in Maungdaw Police Station in front of Police Office Head Inspector Aung Myint Kyi,” said an aide from the police station.
“The village administration head was arrested by police after the victim’s complaint. He was kept in police custody for two days.
“Inspector Aung Myint Kyi took a huge amount of money from the village head and released him from police custody.”
After receiving information that the village head was released, Fatayma asked the police head, ”Why was the village had released?”
The police officer answered that the police could not find any evidence of rape or sexual abuse.
“The police officer Aung Myint Kyi has a bad record about extorting money from the Rohingya community. He calls community members to his office and charges them with various kinds of allegation, like drug trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking, etc. He gives some receipts to the Rohingya to pay at shops. He and the shopkeeper have an agreement to return back money as per the receipts, with the shopkeeper earning 10% commission from the receipt,” said a trader from Maungdaw.
