Thinzar Nwe, Narinjara News, 14 December 2024 

As local inhabitants flee to the mainland due to continued conflict in Arakan State, some young women are allegedly facing sexual assaults at military junta checkpoints. 

A young woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told Narinjara News that women are facing inappropriate searches by junta soldiers at military checkpoints as they flee the violence in Arakan State townships, where their safety is at risk. 

"It took place in December. At the military checkpoint leaving Gwa Town, we were initially required to take off our shirts for inspection. Subsequently, they performed an extensive investigation, stating, 'If you are female soldiers from the AA, you are likely to have tattoos on your breasts.' They examined our whole bodies, from our knees down to our ankles," she stated. 

In Ann Township, two teenage displaced girls escaping the conflict during the last week of November were brought to the Ka Myin Kan military checkpoint by junta soldiers, who asserted they need to inspect their phones. Subsequently, the soldiers assaulted them, an Ann displaced woman, preferring to stay unnamed, informed Narinjara News. 

"They were departing Ann for Minbu when they were apprehended at the Ka Myin Kan military checkpoint located midway." The prisoners were brought to the Ka Myin Kan monastery. In the evening, two soldiers from the junta seized two young women, aged 16 and 25, claiming they needed to inspect something on their mobile devices. They took them from the monastery, raped them, and brought them back late at night," she stated. 

The individuals affected are young women whose ages range from 16 to 25. 

The young women involved stated that junta soldiers warned them they would be killed if the incident was revealed to the public. 

On December 6, a woman from Kan Htaung Gyi in Myebon Town, Arakan State, traveling to her job in Muse Town, Muse District, northern Shan State, was apprehended and murdered by junta soldiers at a military checkpoint in Muse Town, who claimed she was connected to the Arakan Army (AA).