ULA court sentences Kyauktaw man to 40 years in prison for serial rape

By Admin 05 Sep 2025

DMG Newsroom

5 September 2025, Kyauktaw

A court set up by the United League of Arakan (ULA) has sentenced a man to 40 years in prison for raping four women in areas controlled by the Arakan Army (AA) in Arakan State, while several more cases are still under investigation.

The ULA's Mrauk-U district court sentenced Zaw Zaw Naing to 40 years in prison with hard labour for repeatedly raping about a dozen women, including minors.

Zaw Zaw Naing aka La Phyu Chay, 25, from Pyidawthar Ward, Kyauktaw Township, was handed down the verdict and sentence on September 1.

He reportedly raped a 20-year-old woman from Leikma Village, Kyauktaw Township, a 17-year-old woman from Myinkyat Village, Kyauktaw Township, a 25-year-old woman from Hsinohgyi Village, Mrauk-U Township, and a 14-year-old woman from Latkaukzay Ward, Mrauk-U Township.

According to the convicted man's confession, he allegedly lured the victims with false promises of employment, threatened them, and repeatedly raped them against their will.

Zaw Zaw Naing was sentenced under Sections 366 and 376 of the Penal Code, for a cumulative total of 40 years in prison.

A Kyauktaw resident said, "As a citizen, I don't see this punishment as fair. He committed a series of crimes, so he should be sentenced for the same reasons as the other victims. A life sentence would be more appropriate for what he did and would set a good example for others."

According to Department of Law Enforcement and Public Security (DLEPS) records, the defendant's confession stated that he raped 11 women from three townships: Mrauk-U, Ponnagyun, and Kyauktaw. Of the 11 victims, he was convicted for only four, while the remaining seven are still under investigation.

Local women say that their safety remains under threat in areas controlled by the Arakan Army. A local woman in Mrauk-U said, "I can't say whether rapes have increased or decreased. But one thing is for sure: It's not easy to keep children with their own family these days. I hear about these rape cases almost every month, which is even more frightening."

Spokesperson for the Arakan Army U Khaing Thukha said that women in controlled areas are given full legal protection, including security.

"It is safe to say that women living in areas controlled by the Arakan Army are 100 percent safe and protected by law," U Khaing Thukha said at an online press conference last month. "This is because, considering the situation after the military regime took control and the Arakan Army took control, the security of women in the public security sector has improved significantly."

A women's rights activist said that the public needs to cooperate with the Arakan Army in seeking justice for the increasing number of rapes in Arakan State.

"If you look at what is happening on the ground, there are many more rapes than we see. But because they are ashamed, rape victims don't dare to speak out. Society has silenced women to prevent them from speaking out. So, the authorities need to do something to educate people so that they can speak out and report these things, and that they understand that these things are not shameful," the women's rights activist added.

Although the Arakan Army, which now occupies most of the townships in Arakan State, is implementing its own justice system, there are criticisms that there are still many weaknesses, including the public's lack of confidence in prosecuting rape cases.

On May 6, a 9-year-old girl was raped and murdered in Pharpyo Village, Minbya Township, and a 9-year-old girl in Hinkharaw Village, Pauktaw Township, was raped on July 28.

A woman in her 20s in Loomonepaik Village, Myebon Township, was going to the bathroom in her yard on June 20 of last year when a 24-year-old man dragged her into a nearby backhoe pit and attempted to rape her.