Miss Universe Myanmar was stripped of her pageant title after posting a video accusing the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) of causing the ongoing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, according to the beauty queen herself, Shwe Eain Si.
The 19-year-old former queen posted the video in question to Facebook September 24 with the intention of informing netizens of violence that is happening in the state.
The video begins with the pageant participant talking to the viewer as graphic images of people — including children — with gashes across their faces appear in the message.
Warning: Video contains graphic images
In response to the post, the Hello Madam Group, which backs the pageant, decided to announce Sunday that the queen would no longer hold her title after she breached contract rules.
Without specifically mentioning the Facebook post, the Hello Madam Group specifically stated that Shwe simply did not behave like a role model, the BBC reported. Per the now-dethroned queen, the removal of her title was deliberately initiated because of her revealing post on the situation in the Rakhine state.
Though the company has repeatedly denied the accusations issued by Shwe, the queen publicly denied the company’s statement Tuesday in a follow up response on Facebook in which she deemed the company’s claims “groundless.”
According to the BBC, more than half a million Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh since August 25 when ARSA militants attacked security posts, triggering a huge military crackdown in which hundreds of Rohingya Muslims have been killed.
