Kyaing Hein Lin, Narinjara News, 14 February 2025

The Arakan Army (AA) has apprehended an individual who tricked 10 individuals, including multiple young Mro girls, by offering them employment. 

A man in his 30s was apprehended in early February by the Department of Law Enforcement and Public Security (DLEPS) under the AA at a police station in a freed region of Arakan State. 

Based on trustworthy reports, the man was apprehended following complaints from residents regarding his sexual harassment and mistreatment of young women from various villages in Kyauktaw Township, along with his extortion of some of their jewelry. 

On January 19, a man reached a village populated by the Mro people via bicycle in Kyauktaw Township. On February 11, villagers informed Narinjara News that he enticed seven young women and three men, all over the age of 10, to a site by promising them to work as brick movers for 25,000 kyats daily. 

After walking roughly half a mile, ten of the individuals who had joined them received 10,000 kyats to purchase snacks. 

The man subsequently rode his bicycle with a 14-year-old girl, asserting he would offer her a position as a clerk and that he would later arrange a car for the others, as reported by the girl's father in an interview with Narinjara News. 

"The other nine were left behind, and he took my daughter," stated the girl's father. 

Another young woman, who was misled into accompanying the 14-year-old, stated that the girl consented to go after being assured 30,000 kyats daily for the clerical position. 

"He brought us along, claiming he would compensate us with 25,000 kyats daily. When he promised 30,000 kyats for a clerk, the girl accompanied him," she stated. 

The other nine individuals waited from 10 am until 2 pm for a vehicle to collect them, but when it didn't come, they went back to their village. 

The man who brought the young girl to work as a clerk was deceived once more into taking her to a different place. The young woman who was taken informed Narinjara News that he asserted the area designated for the bricks' relocation was not in the specified village but in another place. 

"We needed to traverse mountains and fields. We spent the night in a deserted tent in a meadow. The man didn’t hit me, but he stole my earrings. I was frightened, so I removed them," she stated. 

The following morning, the man vanished, stating he was going to get water. The young woman wandered without direction, eventually encountering a pair planting vegetables before moving on to another village. 

The father of the girl stated that upon receiving information about her arrival in a village, relatives went there and located their daughter on January 23. 

The man who had tricked them with assurances of a job as a brick mover asserted he hailed from Tha Yet Oke Village in Kyauktaw Township. They went looking for him there, but they were unable to locate him. 

The village administrator remarked, "I wasn't aware they had been taken. We began searching for them upon hearing they were unaccounted for. We looked into the brick kilns and lodged complaints at the police station. When we traveled to Tha Yet Oke village for an investigation, they claimed the man was not from there.”

As of February 14, the AA has not disclosed any details regarding the person who misled the young people. 

Narinjara News has not been able to acquire the name, residence, or specifics of the arrest from the appropriate authorities, and after reaching out to AA spokesperson U Khaing Thukha, there has been no reply. (Photo- Internet)