Maungdaw, Arakan State: A young child drowned in a pond in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, Burma, on July 8, while playing along with his friends nearby a lake of the victim’s home, said a local villager on condition of anonymity.
The child was identified as Ziaur Rahaman (5), son of Noor Mohamed, who hailed from Maung Nama Aley Village of Maungdaw North.
According to the Maung Nama villagers, police and witness sources said that Ziaur Rahaman and his friends were playing near a pond of the victim’s home on July 8, at about 4:30 p.m. At one stage, he disappeared and his friends did not know his whereabouts. His relatives were informed and his family members and others rushed to the spot to search for the boy.
However, an hour later, his dead body was recovered from the pond, causing his friends to begin shouting and crying. “He drowned in the pond while he was playing by the pond without his friends knowing,” said one of the relatives.
The dead body was immediately sent to Maungdaw District General Hospital after informing the concerned authorities of the Nasaka (Burma’s border security force) and the village administration officer for an autopsy.
The next day, on July 9, the dead body was handed over to his relatives to bury. At around 2:30 p.m., he was buried at the local cemetery after receiving permission from the concerned police and Nasaka authorities by giving a bribe.
According to a close relative, his parents had to spend over 100,000 Kyat regarding the dead body. They had also to pay money to the doctor to get an order for the postmortem.
