After a young woman rejected the sexual advances of an apparently drunk Burma Army officer he later threatened the woman and her family in Laikha Township, Southern Shan State according to witnesses.
Nang Lern, 20, was talking with her parents in their house’s compound in the Wan Pai area of Laikha Township when Lt. Sein Min, the vice commander of Burma Army Battalion No. 512, confronted her at around 8 p.m on Monday 6 July.
“Lt. Sein Min walked toward Nang Lern. He then pointed the gun at her lap and ordered her to go with him,” said a local resident who wished to remain anonymous. He believed that the lieutenant was under the influence of alcohol at the time.
“Nang Lern begged him to let her go, but Lt. Sein Min was angry and told her to go with him if she didn’t want to die,” he added.
Lt. Sein Min then allegedly left the house without Nang Lem and, according to neighbors, returned later at about midnight. They saw him fire shots into the air while shouting that he was not afraid of anyone.
“The fact that this Burmese military officer openly attempted sexual violence in front of witnesses shows his confidence of impunity under the current system,” explained Nang Charm Tong, a Shan human rights activist. “He must be punished and the Burma Army must be held accountable for such crimes.”
In the 2014 report, 'Same Impunity, Same Patterns,' the Women’s League of Burma (WLB) documented 100 crimes of sexual violence by the military against women and girls in Burma’s ethnic areas during the last four years. The report “specifically calls for an end to the prevailing system of impunity that not only enables military perpetrators to evade prosecution, but also fosters a culture of continued and escalating violence.”
The local witness also added that Nang Lek, Nang Lern’s mother, fainted during the encounter and was later taken to the local hospital. Early the next morning, it was reported that Lt. Sein Min offered the family a sum of 300,000 kyats (265 USD) in exchange for them not to press charges. When they refused the money, Lt. Sein Min ordered Nang Lek to leave the hospital immediately.
“Our country has now changed. These kinds of actions are unacceptable,” said Sai Kyaw Zeya, Laikha Township’s parliamentary representative, when asked to comment on the incident.
At the time of reporting, Nang Lern’s case had not yet been brought before a judiciary.
BY SAI AW / Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.)
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI
