At least five Buddhist statues have been demolished in Arakan State’s Kyauk Taw Township, which had earlier witnessed a series of violent incidents involving Buddhists and Muslims in 2012, according to local police.
“Five Buddha images in Taung Bwe Village under Kyauk Taw Township were damaged on July 11th. The heads of the Buddhist statues had fallen and were soon on the ground,” said U Soe Nyeint, a lawmaker from the Arakan State Parliament.
According to a local source, a group of people entered into the pagoda during the night and intentionally destroyed the Buddha images.
The police in charge of Kyauk Taw Township confirmed that the incident took place at Thet Taw Shay Pagoda on the night of the religious Warso full moon day.
“I am now arriving at the pagoda to investigate the matter. As the investigation is ongoing I cannot say any facts about the incident at this moment,” said a police officer in response to an inquiry from Narinajra News.
Army and police personnel have already reconstructed the damaged Buddha images, and local villagers are insisting on strict punishment for the perpetrators.
