RANGOON — The Burmese actor Min Oak Soe has been arrested and charged with murder, after a woman employed at a magazine he owns was found beaten to death at his home in Rangoon.
According to the police report, Min Oak Soe, also known as Aung Naing Tun, turned himself in to the Bahan Police Station at 4:30 am on Christmas morning, confessing to having killed Nu Nu Yin, also known as Tay Nu Yin.
He reportedly told police he had become enraged after finding out that the Nu Nu Yin, 33, had lied about a personal relationship that she was in, and had punched and kicked her until she was no longer conscious.
Nu Nu Yin was found dead when police arrived on the scene, with wounds to her head, neck and torso. Her family told The Irrawaddy that multiple ribs were also broken.
Nu Nu Yin had worked for years as an editor of Tarapa magazine, which is owned by Min Oak Soe, according to her family. In the police report, Min Oak Soe described Nu Nu Yin as his cousin, a claim refuted by her family, which said that there was no blood relation between the two.
The actor is being charged with murder under Article 302 of the Penal Code.
“Police told us that they have opened a murder case. They will do what they need to do based on the post-mortem investigation,” said Thin Thin Mu, a cousin of Nu Nu Yin.
The victim was originally from the city of Yaw in Magwe Division, and was living with her family in Rangoon’s Tamwe Township.
The family was notified of Nu Nu Yin’s death at about noon on Thursday.
Min Oak Soe, 44, rose to fame starring in Burmese horror movies, though he has also acted in comedies and dramas. In addition to his acting career, he also owns the media company Tarawun Video Production, and runs an art gallery at his home on Pho Sein Street in Rangoon.
It is not his first run-in with the law: In 2013, he spent three months in prison after he set fire to a pile of garbage in the middle of a Rangoon street, blocking traffic. He was sentenced for punching a police car and swearing at firefighters in the incident. In November of this year, he was forcibly restrained at a birthday celebration for the well-known singer Soe Paing, after he took to the stage and began behaving erratically.
