A district court under the Arakan People’s Revolutionary Government has sentenced a man to 40 years in prison with hard labor for repeatedly sexually assaulting four women in Rakhine State, according to sources close to the court.
The ruling was handed down on September 1 by the district court in Mrauk-U, under the authority of the Arakan People’s Revolutionary Government. The convicted man has been identified as 25-year-old Zaw Zaw Naing, also known as La Phyu Chay, from Pyidaungtha Ward in Kyauk Taw Township.
Court records state that between 2024 and 2025, the defendant committed repeated sexual assaults against two women in Kyauk Taw Township and two others in Mrauk-U Township.
The four survivors have been identified as a 20-year-old woman from Leipma Village in Kyauk Taw Township, a 17-year-old girl from Myin Gyaung Village in Kyauk Taw Township, a 25-year-old woman from Sin O Kyi Village in Mrauk-U Township, and a 14-year-old girl from Let Kauk Zee Ward in Mrauk-U.
The court sentenced the defendant under Penal Code Sections 366 and 376, imposing a total of 40 years of imprisonment with hard labor across four cases.
“The trial had been ongoing for some time, so the verdict was delivered on September 1. The defendant still faces other cases, which are under further investigation,” a source close to the court said.
In addition, according to a statement the defendant gave to the DLEPS unit, he admitted to committing non-consensual sexual assaults against up to 11 women across Mrauk-U, Kyauk Taw, and Ponngan Island townships. Seven additional cases are still under investigation, and further charges may follow.
Similar crimes have recently been reported in Rakhine. On May 3, a nine-year-old child was sexually assaulted and murdered in Hpar Pyaw Village, Minbya Township. On July 28, another nine-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in Hinkharaw Village, Pauk Taw Township.
This latest ruling marks the first time the Arakan People’s Revolutionary Government has imposed a 40-year prison sentence with hard labor in a sexual assault case in Rakhine.
Photo: The convicted man sentenced to 40 years in prison for sexually assaulting four women. / APM
