DLEPS Arrests and Prosecutes Fugitive Suspect in Kyauktaw Rape Case Involving 14-Year-Old Girl

News ၊ September 2, 2026

Photo: Arakha Crime and Related News Information Team

In Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, the Department of Law Enforcement and Public Security (DLEPS) arrested a perpetrator who had been on the run for over two months after raping a 14-year-old girl, and has submitted the case for prosecution at the Mrauk-U District Court. This was revealed in a statement released today, September 2, by the Arakha Crime and Related News Information Team.

The incident occurred on April 7, 2026, at an orchard inside the Yam Chaung forest area in Kyauktaw Township.

The victim’s family, residents of Kyauk Ta Lone Village, had moved as a household to work as farmhands, cattle herders, and crop guards for an annual salary of 1.8 million MMK at an orchard owned by 55-year-old U Maung Aye Hla in Thein Tan Village, located north of the Zee Chaung Dam.

On April 5, because there was no electricity at the orchard hut, the victim's family requested a solar panel from the farm owner. The 14-year-old daughter was sent along with the owner, U Maung Aye Hla, to retrieve it.

During their return trip to the hut on the afternoon of April 6, while walking along a forest path leading from Zee Chaung Dam toward the Yam Chaung forest, night fell around 5:00 PM, forcing them to pitch a temporary tent in a ravine to sleep.

At around 7:00 PM that evening, U Maung Aye Hla approached and groped the young girl while she was lying inside the tent. Frightened, she got up and sat near the fireplace.

U Maung Aye Hla then forcibly dragged her back toward the bedding and pulled her inside the tent. Under the pretext of asking her to hand him a cigarette, he pinned her down, mounted her, and forcibly committed statutory rape against the 14-year-old girl for approximately 15 minutes.

Furthermore, while the victim lay terrified and weeping, he embraced her from behind and committed non-consensual anal sodomy against her.

It was also reported that on an afternoon following the Thingyan festival, U Maung Aye Hla targeted the victim's 8-year-old younger sister. He lured her with an offer of 4,000 MMK and a packet of soft drink, forcing her to hold his genitalia until he reached sexual gratification.

After the victim recounted the entire ordeal to her mother, both the mother and the victim filed an official complaint at the local DLEPS station on May 15.

Based on the report, the local DLEPS station opened a case under case number (Pa) 6/2026, invoking Sections 376 (Rape) and 377 (Unnatural Offenses) of the Penal Code.

Following the opening of the case, the suspect, U Maung Aye Hla, went into hiding. Authorities investigated his whereabouts and, acting on a tip-off that he had returned to his residence in Thein Tan Village, arrested him alongside witnesses at around 2:00 AM on July 30.

During interrogation, the suspect, Maung Aye Hla, confessed to committing the crimes and gave a formal confession in court. DLEPS systematically collected crime scene documentation and physical evidence. Following legal recommendations from the District Law Office, formal charges were submitted to the Mrauk-U District Court on August 28, where the court accepted the case under a major criminal trial docket.

The DLEPS of the Arakha Government stated that it is intensifying efforts to swiftly apprehend other fleeing perpetrators and fugitives across the state.

Source@ Arakha Crime and Related News Information Team