Four Family Members from Kaing Gyi (Mro) Village in Maungdaw Missing After Going Fishing

Naung Min Thu, Narinjara News, 2 October 2024

A father, his two sons, and his nephew from Kaing Gyi (Mro) minority village in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, have been reported missing after going fishing, according to local residents.

U Sai Win, 45; his kids Maung Lin Gyi, 15, and Maung Ah Mun, 12; and Maung D Kaw, 14, his brother's son, are the ones who remain missing.

Residents claimed that the group went fishing at Let Wae Creek in the Mayu Mountains at 8:00 am on September 30 and have not returned to the settlement.  As of October 2, they have not been seen.

“Four family members—a father, his two sons, and a nephew—are gone. They went fishing in Let Wae Creek in the Mayu Mountains, but they never came back," a villager reported.

The night the family vanished, about ten young people looked for them but were unable to locate them.

More than sixty locals convened early on October 1st to conduct a thorough search deep within the Mayu forest. Locals claim they found two sticks that were likely used to beat the missing people, along with some of their belongings.

“We discovered a child's hat and sticks that were used to beat the four of them where they were sitting. We could not locate anyone else. Everyone thinks they were arrested by ARSA members," stated another local.

As of today, more than sixty folks are still looking for the people who went missing.

According to the locals, Let Wae Creek in the Mayu Mountains is roughly a three-hour walk from Kaing Gyi (Mro) village, making the round trip take about seven hours.

The 130 households that make up Kaing Gyi (Mro) hamlet are home to about 900 Mro ethnic people, all of whom depend on the Mayu forest's fish and frog foraging for a living.

In a separate incident, an 11-year-old fifth-grader from the Maungdaw 4-mile ward was murdered on September 26. He was stabbed in the right abdomen and suffered a head injury from being beaten by sticks.

The Arakan Army (AA) is currently carrying out an investigation to find the killers of the student, who are still at large.

Photo: Kaing Gyi (Mro) village.