An armed group in Karen state detained Myanmar actor Min Yar Zar and his wife Phu Ngone Pwint on Thursday night, as the couple reportedly tried to flee charges of rape, assault, and an acid attack against their teenage domestic maid.
The Democratic Karen Benevolent Army captured the pair travelling through territory near the Thailand border controlled by the Myanmar military-aligned group, a representative told news outlet The Standard Time Daily.
Video shows Min Yar Zar blindfolded in the back of a vehicle, while a photograph shows the actor alongside Phu Ngone Pwint and an unidentified person restrained in wooden stocks.
The couple will be transferred to Myawaddy township police station, said the representative.
Min Yar Zar, Phu Ngone Pwint, and her father, Maung Maung Aye, face charges of voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon, voluntarily causing grievous hurt, assaulting a woman with intent to outrage her modesty, and abetment, under sections 324, 325, 354 and 114, respectively, of the Penal Code.
A charge of rape has also been filed against Min Yar Zar at Tarmwe police station.
The 15-year-old victim from Wakema township in Ayeyarwady region began working at the actor’s house in Yangon’s Tamwe township when she was 10 years old, reported the newspaper.
The girl’s mother heard an audio clip uploaded by Phu Ngone Pwint on the actor’s Facebook page accusing him of adultery, according to police.
She then visited her daughter at Maung Maung Aye’s house and, seeing her injuries, filed a complaint at Shwe Pauk Kan police station in North Okkalapa township.
The teenager told her mother that Maung Maung Aye hit the girl on the head with a hammer after the couple threw acid on her genitals on the night of April 5, according to the police report.
Maung Maung Aye was detained at Shwe Pauk Kan police station on April 8, reported The Standard Time Daily.
Meanwhile, the girl is receiving treatment in North Okkalapa hospital.
