October 31, 2016
Tatmadaw once again raided the restive village tract of Bura Shida para in Maungdaw, sexually assaulted women and broke many houses on Saturday.
At around 8am, the military turned up with trucks and vans to carry off lootable resources. Many women were sexually assaulted during the raid, and there are reports some of them have been raped when soldiers entered their houses. Women often don’t report rapes for fear of bringing shame on their families or for further demoralising the male members of their families.
An 11 year boy identified as Sadek Hossain (s/o Shafiq) was brutally assaulted during the raid. In previous raids, some young boys were arrested as most of the men chose to stay away from the village fearing death and torture. There is no information regarding the fate of the arrested boys.
There have been many arrests and disappearances in the village since October 9 with eyewitnesses reporting dead bodies floating in the river. Many women have been raped. Rights activists allege the army uses rape as a weapon of war to demoralise ethnic minorities and destroy the fabric of their communities.
The raid lasted till 5pm with the army filling their trucks and vans with goods looted from the village. Continuous raids have left many already impoverished households bankrupt and fears of food shortages in this season.
The last major raid on the area took place last Tuesday.
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