October 19, 2016
Women were sexually assaulted when a military team accompanied by collaborators from the Rakhine community raided the village of Maung Hna Ma, Maungdaw, while the men were arrested and tortured.
At around 10 am on Tuesday, the military team comprising 30 soldiers and 15 men in plain clothes entered the south side of the village and went in to Rohingya homes. Here the military and their civilian companions touched the private parts of women and passed lewd comments.
Eyewitnesses say the Rakhine collaborators carried huge bags where they carried off valuables looted from the Rohingyas.
Many men had mostly fled the area in face of mass arrests from the village since the military first started raids in this locality since October 11. However, at least 17 were arrested during the raid by the military.
There is confusion regarding the fate of the men arrested earlier, with some saying they have been killed while others say they are facing brutal torture. Those arrested from the area on Tuesday were taken to the neighbouring Rakhine settlement of Aung Mingla. Here they have been mercilessly tortured. Three have been released on Wednesday, while the fate of 14 others remain unclear. One source says it is likely they still face torture by the army in the Rakhine village.
Inhumane torture is common in Arakan where hundreds of Muslims have died and many more maimed by security forces since 2012.
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