A young woman from Sittwe in western Burma's Arakan State has committed suicide by consuming poison, reportedly after her boyfriend, who is a sailor in the Burmese navy, refused to marry her after she ran away with him.
The woman was identified as 19-year-old Moe Moe Ei Khine, the daughter of U Nain Moe and Daw Moe Sandar, from Shwe Mingan Ward in Sittwe.
One family member said she committed suicide on the evening of 26 December, 2011 in the canteen inside the naval station in Shwe Mingan Ward, two days after she left home to be with him.
"Naval Private Thura Win had secretly taken her from her house to his station on 24 December and then dismissed her back to her house on the morning of 26 December after living together with her for two nights at his station. As her mother had scolded her for running away with him without their knowledge, she went back to him, but he also refused to marry her, and she finally committed suicide by consuming poison at the canteen of the naval station," said her family member.
The source said that Moe Moe Ei Khine was sent to the public hospital in Sittwe by her family after a sergeant from the naval station came to inform them that she was suffering an emergency at the station's canteen.
"We found her lying unconscious with foam in her mouth at around 5 pm at the canteen of the station and took her to the hospital, but she was dead on arriving at the hospital," said the source.
The family member said the in-charge of the station has promised her parents they will take action against Thura Win for their daughter's death, telling them not to bring the case to the police, but no action has yet been taken against the accused. The source added that the hospital has also declined to issue a postmortem report concerning the cause of death.
It was learned that Moe Moe Ei Khine, like her parents, was a day laborer working at the port near their village, and they are a very poor family.
