⚫ A report released by the Kachin Women’s Association-Thailand on “New Threats from the Air” details the attempted rape of a Burmese soldier in Kutkai.
Details of attempted rape by Burma Army soldier in Kutkai
Survivor’s Name: Lum Mai (not real name) Age: 50 yrs. Incident date: 12 April 2022 Incident location: Outside survivor’s house, Hu Nawng village,
KutkaiPerpetrator: Soldier from LIB 336 Between midnight of April 10 and 2 am of April 11, 2022, a convoy of about 40 military trucks travelled from Kutkai to Muse. On the way, there was a bomb attack on the convoy at the head of Hu Nawng village (about 10 kilometers north of Kutkai). After this, early in the morning of April 11, about 20 troops of LIB 336 moved into Hu Nawng village to take security around the village, camping in two villagers’ houses. LIB 336 is based in Pekhon township, under the Eastern Regional Command, and has been providing security along the Kutkai-Muse high-way, setting up a temporary camp in Nam Gut village (on the highway about 1 ½ kilometers south of Hu Nawng).The survivor Lum Mai lives with her husband in Hu Nawng village. She has two children, who do not stay at Hu Nawng village.
On the day of the incident, the survivor’s husband had gone to another village to attend a house opening ceremony. On 12 April, at about 8:30 am, Lum Mai went to help in the nearby garden of her elder brother, who is the village head of Hu Nawng. However, that morning he had to go out on urgent business, so Lum Mai changed her plan to help with the gardening to the next day and she returned home at 9 am. It is about a 10-minute walk from her home to her brother’s home. As she was walking home, she noticed a Burma Army soldier following her, so she quickened her pace and entered her compound. The soldier was in uniform and carrying a gun, and was about 30 years old. When she entered her compound, the soldier followed her and asked her “What have you put in your bag?” She said “Nothing.” After that, the soldier grabbed her and began groping her body sexually. She was terrified and began shouting. The sol-dier then hit her in the head and body with his fists. Her younger brother’s garden was beside her home, about 200 feet away. At that time her younger brother and his 17-year-old son were repairing a garden fence. When they heard her shouts, the father said to his son, “Go and look, maybe someone’s been bitten by a dog.” The son went to Lum Mai’s house and saw the soldier beating her in the head, and also starting to choke her neck. When the soldier saw the boy, he threatened him with his gun, then left in the direction of where his unit was camped in the village. The boy rushed back to his father and told him what he had seen.
The father was quick-thinking, and realized he needed to identify the perpetrator, so he took a short cut to where the soldier was taking security. He saw the commander asking the perpetrator “Where did you go? Why didn’t you stay here?” The commander then beat him once. Neither of them saw the survivor’s younger brother, who went back home, fearing that if he challenged the soldier straight away he might be attacked. When he got back home, he called the village head, the survivor, and other villagers. At about 10 am, they went to where the soldiers were camped in the village and met with the commander. The commander ordered all his soldiers to stand in a row and asked the survivor to identify the perpetrator. Even though the perpetrator had removed the sweater he was wearing at the time of the incident, the survivor was able to identify him. The com-mander said “We will take action,” and the perpetrator was then tied to a tree. After that, all the villagers went back home. At about 11 am the commander and two other soldiers went to the survivor’s younger brother’s house. The commander apologized by kneeling down 3 times, and gave the survivor 100,000 MMK for medical treatment. She had lost hearing from the blows to her head, and had difficulty swal-lowing food due to the choking of her neck. After this, the commander and his men returned back to their camp in the village.The survivor’s younger brother had meanwhile gone and reported the case to local women leaders. At about 3 pm that day, the head of a women’s cultural group and other CSO women leaders went together with the village head to the commander to discuss the case. At that time, the villagers did not see the perpetrator tied to the tree. The com-mander said the perpetrator’s name was Bwe Tin Khai and that he had just returned from Thantlang, Chin State. In the evening, at about 5 pm, some villagers and members of the women’s group went to the survivor’s house and took a photo of the incident place. When they were there, they heard the sound of three gunshots from the direc-tion of where the soldiers were camped, so they quickly returned home. They later learned that the perpetrator had shot three of his fellow soldiers and then run away with a gun. The next morning, on 13 April, the village head and the other soldiers cremated the three dead soldiers and buried their bodies. In the afternoon of 13 April, the troops left Hu Nawng and returned to Nam Gut village. That evening, the troops found the perpetrator in the jungle near Nam Gut village and shot him dead. The commander then ordered the Nam Gut villagers to bury the dead body. On 14 April, the commander phoned the village head and asked to meet at 11 am. The troops then went again to Hu Nawng village and gave 500,000 MMK as further compensation for the case. After that, they went back to Nam Gut village. On 20 April, a Burma Army officer called the survivor, village head and witness to the IB 45 military camp at Kut-kai, and interrogated them about the case from 8 am to 4 pm. After that, they were told that the information would be sent to the Division level.
Read more report : https://kachinwomen.com/new-threats-from-the-air/
Human Rights Chennal
#KHRW
June 11, 2022
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