Ne Win, the Muslim man who set a woman on fire in Lashio last month triggering a series of religious riots, has been sentenced to 26 years in prison, according to Myanmar media and China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency.
The communal riots ignited in the Shan State town on May 28 after a local woman, Ma Aye Aye Win, was attacked by Ne Win who doused her in gasoline and set fire to her.
Ne Win was taken into custody by police after the incident, and it is reported that he was found to be in possession of stimulant drugs, possibly methamphetamine pills.
Hundreds of angry local residents along with Buddhist monks rounded on the police station that day to demand the police hand over Ne Win, but he remained detained. Later, the crowd stormed mosques and Muslim homes in Lashio and set fire to many buildings. Hundreds of Muslims subsequently fled the town and took refuge at makeshift camps.
At least one person was killed and five others injured in the mob violence. Xinhua reported that five residential houses, three mosques, one cinema, four warehouses, 32 shops, two vehicles and 11 motorcycles were burnt or destroyed by the mob or individuals.
Since the imposition of a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Lashio, reports say that calm has returned to the streets.
