Pauk Taw: A village chairman in a village of Pauktaw Township that was affected by Cyclone Giri was brutally assaulted by an army lieutenant in public because he failed to provide a machine boat to the officer on time, said family of the chairman and other villagers.

U Sein Hla Kyaw, who is chairman of Nga Ra Ba Chai Village in Byi Theit Village Tract in Pauktaw Township, was assaulted by Lieutenant Kyaw Kyaw Aung from Light Infantry Battalion 538 based in Rathidaung, 20 miles north of the Arakan State capital, on 2 December, 2010.

According to a village source, U Sein Hla Kyaw was summoned by the army officer to a temporary camp stationed in Nga Ra Ba Chai Village at 7:00 pm on the day of the incident. When U Sein Hla Kyaw arrived at the camp, Lt. Kyaw Kyaw Aung threw his plate of rice into the chairman's face. After that, the lieutenant hit U Sein Hla Kyaw in the face repeatedly with his fists, and then finally kicked U Sein Hla Aung in the groin.

U Sein Hla Kyaw suffered many injuries in the attack, and fled the scene to an unknown location within the village. After he fled, some soldiers searched for the chairman in the village to further attack him, but he managed to avoid capture.

The family source said that the lieutenant assaulted U Sein Hla Kyaw because he had ordered him to arrange a machine boat to be ready at 7:00 am on 2 December so he could travel to Prin Pru Chai Village. However, U Sein Hla Kyaw was only able to arrange the machine boat for 8:00 am because many of the boats in his village were damaged during the cyclone.

When the army officer arrived back at his camp in the evening from Prin Pru Chai, he summoned the chairman and severely assaulted him for having the boat ready an hour late.

Just after the incident occurred, a major who is commander of the column from Battalion 538 came to the village to investigate the incident, but no action has yet been taken by authorities against Kyaw Kyaw Aung.

U Sein Hla Kya filed a complaint of the assault with the Regional Army Control Headquarters based in Sittwe, by sending a letter that was copied to the defense minister, commander of Western Command, and in-charge of the army intelligence unit in Arakan state, as well as the commander of Battalion 538 based in Rathidaung.

The army column came to the area of Nga Ra Ba Chai Village to help the cyclone victims rebuild after the severe damage caused by Cyclone Giri.

(The complaint letter of U Sein Hla Kyaw to the Regional Army Control Headquarters in the below)