26.05.2025 – 30.05.2025 – (Weekly Presents)

A missing student in Bago was found dead with his hands tied behind his back and two of the perpetrators have been arrested, an official from the Bago-based Subana Social Assistance Association said.

Maung Thet Naing Min, 13, went missing at around 5:30 pm on May 20 and was found dead with his hands tied behind his back and a bag over his head at 7 am on May 23.

“The child was found in the Mazin Si Sung forest at around 7 am on the 23rd. His hands were tied behind his back. He had a bag over his head. There were no other external injuries. According to the medical report, he died of suffocation,” an official from the Bago-based Subana Social Assistance Association said.

The two suspects who kidnapped and killed the child were also arrested on May 24.

“There are two suspects. They are elderly,” an official from the Subana Social Welfare Association continued.

At around 5 pm on May 21, Maung Thet Naing Min, a resident of Maha Zedi (3) Street, Mazin Ward, Bago, was playing football with his friends in front of his house.

A 31-year-old man named Naing Phyo, who lives in the village of Pekin, found a ball at the Masa Zedi football field and took it away on a motorbike, claiming to be going to pick it up, said a close friend of Maung Thet Naing Min’s family.

He continued, “About half an hour later, Naing Phyo returned on a motorbike, but Maung Thet Naing Min was not with him. When Maung Thet Naing Min’s parents asked, Naing Phyo said that he had to go to the new city for work and dropped Maung Thet Naing Min off at Maha Zedi Street. Maung Thet Naing Min said that he walked towards the Maha Zedi football field and returned to his house. The child has been missing since then.”

That night, Maung Thet Naing Min’s parents received a phone call telling them to come to the football field near the east gate of the Maha Pagoda at 11 p.m. with 500,000 kyats if they wanted him back, and that if they reported him to the police, Maung Thet Naing Min’s life would not be guaranteed. So, the parents went to the appointed place without informing the police, but they did not find anyone.

Maung Thet Naing Min’s body was found in a ravine near the Mazin Dam on May 23, he said.