December 3, 2016
More than a hundred women were sexually molested and assaulted after being kept hostage in Sa Li Frang, Maungdaw North.
On Thursday at around 4am, Tatmadaw surrounded the village track. At around 2pm, hundreds of soldiers entered the area and began raiding houses. They herded more than a hundred women and took them to a field.
Here the women were forced to take off their clothes. After that soldiers proceeded to sexually abuse them by touching their private parts. Many of the women were seriously injured in the beatings.
Many women were gang raped by the soldiers. During the incident, the soldiers told them this would continue till the women went away to Bangladesh. The tortured cries of the women could be heard from a distance.
They were released at around 7pm. They were ordered to produce all the men and other villagers who had escaped the village tract following Tatmadaw attacks on November 12 and 13.
However, the next day, soldiers once again entered Sa Li Frang and forced the women to the field. Once again, they proceeded to sexually assault the women.
On Thursday, soldiers also entered Ra Bai La and forced women to strip off their clothes.
Tatmadaw also took up positions around Ra Bai La on Friday when this report was being filed.
Rights groups allege the Tatmadaw uses rape as a weapon of war to demoralise ethnic minorities and destroy the fabric of their societies.
Earlier on November 12, a Tatmadaw team that raped women in the area was met with hundreds of Rohingya protesters armed with sticks. The team withdrew but called in reinforcements to attack Sa Li Frang, Sau Raw Gazi Bil, Bor Gazi Bil and Ra Bai La. Over the next two days, Tatmadaw pounded the area with helicopters, rocket launchers and heavy machine guns killing at least 150 people, while soldiers threw infant children into the fire. Since then, much of the populace have ran away.
