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.
