Mandalay riot suspects arrested in Thailand
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Three suspects alleged to have intentionally fabricated a rape case that led to the recent riots in Mandalay were arrested on July 26 in Mae Sot, Thailand.
Two women, Haymar Kyaw and Marlar, and one man, Ye Htut, were detained. They allegedly conspiring with another woman, Phyu Phyu Min, in filing a false rape report that sparked three days of rioting resulting in two deaths and scores injured.
“All of them were arrested in Thailand. On the next day the two female suspects were sent to Mandalay and Ye Htut to Yangon for police interrogation,” a police officer told Eleven Media.
Rioting and mob violence erupted in Mandalay on July 2 and 3 when rumours spread on social media that a Buddhist teashop worker had been raped by her Muslim employers.
“As the case for Haymar Kyaw and Marlar is open in Pyin Oo Lwin District, they have been transferred there. Legal proceedings are now underway,” said a senior police officer from Mandalay.
Police arrested 362 rioters and imposed a curfew, following the riots that stoked sectarian tension in Myanmar’s second-largest city.
The curfew period is now shortened to 10pm to 3am. It was originally set at 9pm to 5am, before being shortened to 9pm to 3am two weeks ago.
