Kyauktaw, Arakan State: Two women from separate villages in Kyauktaw Township were gang raped by troops from Infantry Battalion (IB) No. 374 on July 4. One of the women later died when she was forced into an abortion by the Army commander on August 17, said a relative of the victim.

The army personnel from IB 374 led by Captain Ko Ko Oo are stationed in Nyochanug village where the army owns rubber plantations and cultivated land.

On the orders of the army, villagers nearby work in the army-owned rubber plantation and perform voluntary service. From among the workers the two women were picked up by soldiers and gang raped on July 4.

The two women, Ma Kra San (21), a Khumi hails from Takyaachaung village and Ma Pyu Pyu Khaine (18) belongs to Pachey village in Kyauktaw Township .

The families of the victims lodged a complaint about the gang rape with the Military Operation Command (MOC)-9 Head office in Kyauktaw Township . The Commander and Operation Command officers of MOC-9, investigated the incident and gave Kyat 10,000 to each victim as compensation on August 12, said sources.

Ma Pyu Pyu Khaine went to the Talunchaung village clinic for a health check up where the health worker told her that she was pregnant. The information reached the MOC and the command officer ordered her to have an abortion. She went in for an abortion but started bleeding and died on August 17, said the village headman.