News No. 143/2011, July 31, 2011
A BENGALI settler youth hacked three members of a Jumma family to death for resisting his attempt to rape a girl in Lama under Bandarban district.
The incident took place yesterday, 30 July, in the village of Shilertua Nakyong-jhiri under Rupshi Para union.
The villagers later seized Abu Musha, the culprit, and then handed him over to the police.
He is a son of Shahajahan from Rupshi Para Muslim Para in Lama. Their family settled in the area under a government-sponsored migration programme in the 1980s.
The slain Jummas have been identified as Hlameching Marma, 36, the girl’s mother; Aungsa-u Marma, her grandfather; and Mongnu Ching Marma, her brother.
Sources said the victim family lives in the remote village, about 10 kilometers off Lama Sadar (headquarters).
When Abu Musha went there, the girl’s (name withheld) father was not at home. He took full advantage of his absence and cleverly took all the daos (one-edged sharp knife) under his control.
Then he grabbed and tried to rape the young girl of the house. He also tried to kidnap her at dao’s point.
When her mother Hlameching Marma and her grandfather Aungsa-u Marma tried to resist him, Musha chopped them to death.
He also struck the girl with a dao, injuring her seriously. However, she was able to run away to safety.
Later, Musha turned to her younger brother and hacked him to death too.
The villagers caught Musha while running back home after the attack.
According to locals, there is a dispute over land between the girl’s family and Musha’s father and uncle.
They say land disputes have taken a serous turn after the in-migration of the settlers in the 1980s.
The cold blooded killing might have links to such land disputes, they added.
UPDF’s Choton Kanti Tanchangya has condemned the killing as “atrocious” and urged the government to ensure justice.
UPDF will stage demonstrations in Bandarban and Khagrachari tomorrow in protest against the killing.