Woman
Claiming to Have Been Raped By Myanmar Army Says 100 More Rohingya Women Also
Raped
Maungdaw,
Arakan – A woman claiming to have been raped by Myanmar Military says that 100
more Rohingya women from Sin Thay Pyin hamlet of Laung Don village tract in
Northern Maungdaw were also raped by the
Military.
On November
25th, 2016 a group of 500 soldiers were said to have raided Sin Thay Pyin
hamlet in Laung Don village tract. Most of the men were able to escape at this
time, but 70 men were said to have been left behind and arrested. Afterwards
the military was reported to have taken all of the women and children out of
their homes and had them gathered in one place. Villagers said many of the
women were raped at this time and 3 of the women were also taken away to a
nearby forest at this time.
While the
military was present a group of Na La Ta villagers was said to have come and looted the
houses in the village.
A 70 year
old villager name Abdul Hafiz, son of Sayed Ahmed, died on Friday the 25th.
Witnesses reported that he died as a result of torture. Abdul Hafiz had been
arrested earlier in the month on November 14th, and said he was tortured at
this time as well. He was released earlier in the month but was unable to flee
when the military returned on friday.
During the
day the the women in the village had been outside since 9am, as the military
had gathered them. They did not return home until 9pm. Abdul Hafiz’s family found him dead in their
home when the women were allowed to return, a villager told RB News. The men
who had been arrested earlier in the day were released at 11pm. They said they
were severely tortured while thy were detained. After they were released the
military left the village.
Yesterday,
November 26th 2016, at 7am a group of 200 soldiers returned to the village and
was reported to have tortured the women there and raped many of them as well.
Women from
Sin Thay Pyin East and Middle hamlets fled their villages at this time in fear
of rape, but the military was reported to have fired shots in the air to stop
them. The women were then forced to gather again under the sun and were
stripped naked of all of their clothing, a local woman told RB News. She said
the military then stole all of their gold and cash at this time.
Another eye
witness said he witnessed these events from a distance, “I saw all of it. They
were firing [shots]. There were about 300 women. They all gathered in the field
under the sun. The soldiers forced them to place their scarves in one place,
then their blouses, then even their longyis. I saw all of it with my own eyes.”
The women
were said to have been forced to stand naked for two and a half hours I the
sun. The soldiers then took advantage of the group of women.
“More than
100 women were raped. At least 40 killed. Since they took away the dead bodies immediately after
killing it is very difficult to say the exact figure. 19 killed on Friday was
confirmed.” a rape victim told RB News.
Three women
who were taken away returned yesterday evening. At this time the remaining
women and children are believed to still be in the field without any shelter.
On Friday
some dead bodies were buried by the soldiers in Cashew Garden, located in Sabai
Gone Village. Yesterday the villagers claimed to have found two mass graves
there. The villagers said they had to dig around to find the bodies. They
believe there will be more to be found, and said that Na Ta La villagers buried
other bodies on the eastern side of the village.
Yesterday
afternoon more than 50 Na La Ta villagers, including a disabled man named Soe
Win, came to Sin Thay Pyin hamlet and looted what remained inside the houses
there. Witnesses said they saw them loading up hand pulled trolleys with
belongings and also taking buffaloes, cows and goats from the village.
Report
contributed by MYARF.