RANGOON — A man has been arrested in Rangoon for allegedly stabbing a young model to death in the stairwell of her apartment.
The motivation for the alleged stabbing remains unclear, but the police say 20-year-old Aye Chan Myat Moe is believed to have been murdered by a friend, Ant Phyo Paing.
The attack on Tuesday evening took place as Aye Chan Myat Moe was walking up to her family’s third-floor apartment in Dagon Township, according to her older sister, Aye Chan Myat Phyo, who said Ant Phyo Paing was waiting in the stairwell.
“I don’t know why he killed my sister,” she told The Irrawaddy. “I heard a loud noise from the second floor. My sister’s throat was covered with blood. …She passed away when she got to the emergency unit because she had serious blood loss.”
Neighbors apprehended Ant Phyo Paing at the apartment and brought him to the police. “The details of the crime are still under investigation,” Zarni Htut, the police chief at the Dagon-Myoma station, The Irrawaddy, adding that the suspect had been charged with murder.
Family members say they have known Ant Phyo Paing for a long time but had been avoiding him prior to the attack because they did not like his attitude. They denied reports that he was Aye Chan Myat Moe’s boyfriend.
“This is absolutely not a fight between couples, as the Thit Htoo Lwin blog mentioned. As we can see from her phone message, their relationship was a normal one,” said Aye Chan Myat Phyo, who speculated that the suspect had an unrequited love for her sister.
Aye Chan Myat Moe started modeling this year. She was studying at the Laurel Art Academy in Rangoon and had been featured in some advertisements and magazine covers.
A funeral will be held at Yay Way cemetery on Saturday.
