Natala villagers chop a cow of Rohingya villager

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Natala (model) villagers chopped a cow of Rohingya villager of Maungdaw Township for meat while the cow was grazing in a grazing ground nearby a hill yesterday morning, said a close relative of the victim. 

The owner of the cow is Mohamed Ayas (25), son of Mohamed Alam hailed from Maung Nama south village of Maungdaw Township. 

On that day, at about 7:00 am, a cow of Ayas was grazing in the said grazing ground. Suddenly, a group of Natala villagers numbering in six, from Aung Thaya village rushed to the ground and chopped the legs of the cow  because  of meat and the cow laid down to the ground. 

Seeing the event, one of the cowboys was crying for the help and ran away to his owner’s house to inform the matter.  So the Natala villagers ran away from the scene. 

Hearing the information, the owner of the cow, Ayas rushed to the spot accompanied by some nearby villagers and the cow was brought to his village where the cow was slaughtered immediately for selling meat to the villagers.

This matter was informed to the concerned authorities such as--- Nasaka (Burma’s border security force) and police.  But, they did not take any action against the culprits. But the authority gave him permission to sell the meat to the villagers after slaughtering, said another villager who denied to be named. 

The cow will be cost about Kyat 250,000, if the cow is being sold in the open market. The owner paid one Viss (1.63kg) of meat to the Nasaka camp without money. One Viss of red meat is being sold at kyat 9,000.

Earlier, the Natala villagers also thieved or stole cattle of Rohingyas while keeping in cowsheds or grazing in the ground. Sometimes, villagers had to choose their missing cattle after paying money. 

A villager said,” We are discriminated by Nasaka, police, army, District and Township officers accompanied by Natala villagers.”

Natala villagers are new settlers in north Arakan brought by the government from Burma proper and Bangladesh to reduce and to harass the Rohingya community, he more added.