Once again it was triggered by reports of the rape of a Buddhist girl by two Muslim teashop owners. The allegations were first published on a Myanmar-language news aggregation website, Thit Htoo Lwin, but with the help of U Wirathu’s by then prominent social media presence, the report circulated quickly. On his Facebook page, the abbot named the teashop, and the next day a mob gathered outside. But the allegations had been cooked up, authorities later stated – the girl had been paid by two local men to fabricate the story.
