Court sentences 2 to die for rape, murder

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NAYPYITAW, Myanmar, June 19 (UPI) -- A Myanmar court sentenced two Muslim men to death for the rape and murder of a woman in a case that prompted sectarian clashes in which at least 50 people died.

The two men were sentence Monday at the Kyaukpyu District Court in Rakhine state, CNN reported Tuesday. A third man who was charged in the matter hanged himself while in detention.

Reports about the crimes may have been the motivating factor in an attack on a bus in Rakhine earlier this month, resulting in the deaths of 10 Muslims aboard the bus, local officials said. The violence between Buddhists and Muslims spread across the northern part of the state, resulting in thousands of homes being destroyed and the at least 50 people being killed, government officials said.

National government officials declared a state of emergency in Rakhine and dispatched the military to help restore order.

Rakhine is home to the Muslim ethnic minority Rohingya, who say they were persecuted by the Myanmar military during its decades of rule.