Court postpones verdict for Myebon youth accused of murder in Arakan State capital Sittwe

By DMG 30 Dec 2022

DMG Newsroom
30 December 2022, Sittwe 

The verdict in a high-profile Sittwe murder case was postponed on December 30, according to family members of the accused. 

The judge had intended to deliver a verdict against defendant Maung Myo Chit Soe, 19, at a court inside Sittwe Prison on Friday, but the court rescheduled the hearing for January 13, said Daw Hla Thein Nwe, the mother of the accused. 

“All prosecution witnesses were examined on December 15,” she told DMG. “I came here after I received a phone call that the judge would deliver a final verdict against my son. My son was escorted by about 30 security personnel during the hearing and the hearing was rescheduled for January 13.” 

Maung Myo Chit Soe, a resident of Kanhtaunggyi town who worked at a shop near the scene of the murder, was arrested on August 16 and interrogated following the murder of Ma Nwe Thandar Win. He was subsequently charged with murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code. 

Ma Nwe Thandar Win, 18, was found dead on August 15, with two stab wounds and bruises on her face and chin, in a shop where she worked near the state government offices in the Arakan State capital. The case has grabbed headlines in local media as the murder appeared to have occurred in the town centre in broad daylight. 

Daw Hla Thein Nwe said U Hsan Kyaw Tun, chief of the No. 1 police station in Sittwe, filed the case against Maung Myo Chit Soe and confiscated his ID card and mobile phone. 

“U Hsan Kyaw Tun seized my son’s ID card and mobile phone. He [U Hsan Kyaw Tun] didn’t submit my son’s ID card and mobile phone to the court as evidence. An ID card is important for my son. U Hsan Kyaw Tun was transferred to another area. I went to No. 1 police station to retrieve my son’s belongings, but I was given only my son’s clothes and hat. I want my son’s mobile phone, ID card and a song book,” she said. 

She continued that Maung Myo Chit Soe has been on trial for about four months, and that he was unjustly accused without involvement in the murder of Ma Nwe Thandar Win. 

“I want my son released as soon as possible. My son cannot be imprisoned without guilt. My son was unjustly arrested and charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code,” she said. 

A Sittwe resident who is friendly with Maung Myo Chit Soe said that he wants to see Maung Myo Chit Soe released as soon as possible because the accused was unjustly arrested. 

“This case was wrong from the start. The ULA has already disclosed the perpetrators of the case. The police wrongly sued an innocent man. It is as if there is no rule of law. We want to see the release of this young man, who has been wrongfully accused and prosecuted, as soon as possible,” the Sittwe resident added. 

DMG continues to attempt to contact U Khaing Thukha, spokesman for the Arakan Army, to find out the status of the person arrested by the ULA in connection with the young woman’s murder.