Mizzima News

Aizawl - Five armed men kidnapped a school teacher and a college student from Pao Moe village in Paletwa Township in Chin State on June 9. Both the hostages are women.

Five armed dacoits entered the village on the evening of June 9 and summoned the village elders. Then they asked the village elders to give Kyat 7 million to them. When the villagers could give them only Kyat 2 million, they kidnapped Pao Moe village school teacher Ma Aung Pa (26) and college student Ma Rari (18), daughter of U Zarni Aung.

"The armed men entered the village in the evening and asked for money from our village elders. When we could manage to give them only Kyat 2 million, they took away these two women as hostages for the remaining Kyat 5 million ransom money," a local resident from Paletwa said on condition of anonymity.

The dacoits spoke only in the Burmese in the village and haven't yet revealed the place where the ransom money must be sent. The local villagers could not describe the type of arms the dacoits  carried.

Although the villagers lodged a complaint at the police station based in Sinowa village, they could not do anything for the release of the kidnapped hostages.

The family members and relatives of the hostages were collecting money to pay the ransom demanded.

"They haven't yet contacted us since the women were taken away and we do not know their whereabouts. Now we are collecting the required ransom money to pay them. We have to borrow this money along with interest," a family member of Ma Rari said.

The villages in Paletwa Township had encountered a similar fate before and had paid ransom to armed men earlier.