B’DESH TROOPS ACCUSED OF RAPING ROHINGYA

DHAKA: The Bangladesh military said on Thursday it has ordered an investigation after a Rohingya family in a refugee camp accused army troops of raping a 12-yearold girl. The inquiry comes as around a million Rohingya in vast camps in Bangladesh face increasing hostility two years after fleeing a military offensive in Myanmar. Mohammad Osman, an elder brother of the alleged victim, said three soldiers entered their shanty at the Nayapara Rohingya camp on Sunday evening and sexually assaulted his sister. “She was raped as one of them tightly held her mouth,” he told AFP by phone, referring to the border district where the refugee camps are located. A spokesman of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, Lieutenant Colonel Abdullah ibn Zaid, said they were investigating. “We have formed a probe committee to investigate the incident and find out the facts. If (they are) found guilty, exemplary punishment will be given,” ibn Zaid told AFP. Doctor Shaheen Abdur Rahman later said that the girl was examined by doctors at the central hospital in Cox’s Bazar but he refused to comment on the findings due to court restrictions. A spokesman of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said they were also investigating the incident.