A man who recently escaped an Arakan Army (AA) camp struck his daughter with a knife after reuniting with his family in a Paletwa IDP (internally displaced people’s) camp, locals said, adding that he appeared “mentally disturbed” since fleeing from the detention site.
U Kyaw Thein—who also goes by the name Aung Yad—was arrested by AA forces with more than 50 others on February 2 and reportedly taken to a camp belonging to the ethnic armed group on the Bangladeshi border. He escaped on May 5.
He originally came from Kingthalin village, but his family is now in the Meezar IDP camp in Chin State’s Paletwa Township.
U Kyaw Thein struck his daughter, Ma Thida, on the head with a knife and has since been admitted to a hospital in Sittwe, Rakhine State, according to members of the Paletwa Social Volunteer Team. The team provided 250,000 kyat (US$164) toward her medical expenses.
“Currently she cannot speak, but she understands what we say,” Wai Tang, who is working with the social volunteer team, told Khonumthung News.
Another volunteer said that Ma Thida also endured injuries to her left wrist and has lost a finger on her left hand. The situation, he said, was “not critical,” and that doctors were waiting to see if her injuries would require surgery. U Kyaw Thein—who has two other children—is currently being detained at the Ta Yun Ai police camp.