Ten Muslim women who have said they were raped by the manager in a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Sittwe Township, Arakan State, were summoned by the Sittwe District Police for questioning on Tuesday.
U Ous Phan Gawni, manager of the Phwe Yar Gone displacement camp, is alleged to have raped dozens of women in Sittwe Township, with the 10 women coming forward to demand that action be taken against the alleged perpetrator.
Daw Nyo Aye, chairwoman of the Rakhine Women’s Network, said the women alleging rape at the hands of the camp manager were summoned by police and examined.
“The police took medical tests from them. We filed a complaint with the police over the case. The head of the district police force examined the case. Today, all 10 of them were given a medical examination at the hospital,” she explained.
The camp manager is accused of raping up to 45 women between 2021 and August 2, 2022. Among the victims at the Phwe Yar Gone camp were housewives, widows, mentally ill women and girls.
“He came to my house that day, and raped me at knifepoint, and threatened to stab me if I shouted,” said a 15-year-old girl who was raped in July 2021.
The camp houses more than 2,000 people who were displaced by intercommunal strife in 2012.
One of the victims, a 30-year-old woman, filed a complaint with the Sittwe Township police station on August 3, 2022. The police station opened a case in September, and the camp manager was subsequently charged with rape at the Sittwe Township Court. But the complainant applied to withdraw the complaint earlier this month.
Despite the woman’s move to have the complaint rescinded, women’s groups are insisting that the case continue to be prosecuted, with those groups saying the court system should be used to penalise the perpetrator and deter other would-be rapists.
On February 9, nine other victims came forward to file complaints with the junta-appointed Arakan State chief minister, demanding that police also bring charges against the camp manager based on their cases.
DMG continues to seek comment from the Sittwe Township police on the matter.
