Main perpetrator sentenced to death in Ponnagyun rape and murder case

By Admin 07 Aug 2026

DMG Newsroom

7 August 2026, Ponnagyun

The main perpetrator in the rape and murder of a young woman in Ponnagyun Township, Arakan State, has been sentenced to death by hanging under Section 302(1)(c) of the Penal Code, while two accomplices were each sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment under Section 364.

According to a statement released on August 6 by the Department of Law Enforcement and Public Security (DLEPS) under the United League of Arakan (ULA), the Sittwe District Court handed down the maximum penalties on August 5 to the three defendants involved in the case.

At about 10 p.m. on July 22, local DLEPS officers and administrative officials inspected a crime scene after receiving reports that a woman's body had been found in a ditch at the foot of a hill west of Tansway Village in Ponnagyun Township.

The victim was found lying face down with her hands handcuffed behind her back. She had been stripped from the waist down, with her underwear caught around her left ankle, and was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt.

She was identified as a 23-year-old woman from Autseik Village in Ponnagyun Township who had been reported missing on July 18. Authorities said the left sleeve of her shirt had been torn, the back of her skull had been fractured, and her body had begun to decompose.

DLEPS opened Case No. Pa 18/2026 under Section 302 of the Penal Code on July 23 and launched an investigation.

During questioning, 37-year-old U Maung Tin Win from Hsininngyi Village, who was staying at the Kyarlangpon Monastery IDP camp in Yotayoke Village, Ponnagyun Township, confessed to raping and murdering the victim.

Investigators also implicated two other suspects: 29-year-old Maung Aye Kyaw, also known as Maung Pu, son of U Kyaw San, and 21-year-old Maung Than Soe, also known as Nga Lone, son of U Nyi Nyi. Both were residing at the Kyankhin IDP camp in Ponnagyun Township.

According to DLEPS, the case was prosecuted under Criminal Case No. 35/2026. After hearing testimony from both sides, including 19 prosecution witnesses, the court formally framed the charges on August 2.

Based on witness testimony, court examination and the defendants' confessions, the Sittwe District Court found Maung Tin Win guilty of rape and murder and sentenced him to death under Section 302(1)(c) of the Penal Code.

The court also found that Maung Aye Kyaw and Nga Lone abducted the victim, took her to the ditch, handcuffed her, covered her face with a cloth, and left her with Maung Tin Win, thereby facilitating the murder.

Both men were sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment under Section 364 of the Penal Code, according to the DLEPS statement.