AA court hands down death penalty and prison terms in rape-murder case

A court operating under the authority of the Arakan Army (AA) announced on August 6 that it had sentenced one man to death and two others to 20-year prison sentences for the rape and murder of a young woman in Ponnagyun Township, Rakhine State, last month. The AA’s Sittwe District Court said it sentenced 37-year-old Maung Tin Win to death as the primary perpetrator, while Maung Aye Kyaw, 29, and Maung Than Soe, 21, were each handed 20-year sentences as accomplices. The charges were in relation to the rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman from Aungseik village who went missing on July 18. Four days later, local residents found her body lying face down in a creek with her hands handcuffed behind her back. An investigation by the AA's Department of Law Enforcement and Public Security, which functions as the police force in areas under the group’s control, found that the victim had been stabbed multiple times and that her body also showed signs of rape. The judicial department stated that Maung Tin Win, a resident of Kyar Laung Pun Monastery IDP camp in Yoetayoke village, confessed to asking the woman for help and luring her away with the intention of raping and killing her. The investigation revealed that he had prepared the handcuffs, and that two other men assisted him. On July 23, the AA announced they had arrested three suspects in connection with the case. During the trial on August 5, the court found Maung Tin Win guilty of rape and murder, and sentenced him to death by hanging under Section 302 1(c) of the Penal Code. The two accomplices were each sentenced to 20 years in prison under Penal Code Section 364 for abduction with the intent to murder. The three men convicted in the Ponnagyun Township rape and murder case (Photo: Arakha Criminal and Related News Information Team) Myanmar Now contacted the AA’s judicial branch and spokesperson for more details on the case, but they were not available for comment. A female High Court lawyer in Rakhine State said that granting the death penalty to the main perpetrator was a suitable sentence. However, she would have preferred the two accomplices to be sentenced according to Section 109 of the Penal Code, which prescribes abettors of a crime with the same punishment as the main perpetrator. “Taking her to the creek, handcuffing her, covering her face with a cloth, and leaving her at the scene with the perpetrator—this shows they intentionally assisted with the rape and murder,” the lawyer said. In recent years, there have been numerous cases of rape and sexual assault against women and children in Rakhine State, leading to some criticism of the AA for its failure to maintain law and order. The AA’s Arakha Criminal and Related News Information Team reported nearly 20 serious criminal cases in AA-controlled Rakhine State between March 22 and July 27 of this year, including murder, theft, and drug offenses, as well as at least three cases of rape or attempted rape.

AA court hands down death penalty and prison terms in rape-murder case

Three men received the sentences for the rape, torture, and murder of a young woman in Rakhine State’s Ponnagyun Township last month

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