A Captain and some soldiers of the Burmese Army gang raped a 15-year old girl in southern Shan State’s Kehsi Township when she and her eight-year old younger sister were on their way to look for their cattle.

At about 10 am on August  5, the elder girl Nang Nang, daughter of Long Herng and Pa Hsai (not their real names) hailing from Wan Keng village, Kehsi village tract, was gang raped by six  soldiers from the Kehsi based Infantry Battalion (IB) # 132, while she and her sister Nawng Nawng were looking for their cows.

On that day, 30 troops  from IB #132 led by Captain San Aye were patrolling the areas in search of rebels, and found the two girls half a mile from the village.

The Captain stopped the two girls and told them to follow him for a while after he ordered most of his unit to go ahead, said a local villager who wished not to be named.

“He [Captain] and his men then raped Nang Nang in turn,” she said.

The two were released after their [soldiers]’s desires were fulfilled. The girls reached home traumatized. They were threatened that they and their family would be killed if they were to disclose the matter to anyone, the source further added.

“Even if you tell others, no one can punish us because all of you are living under the Burmese Army’s rule,” she quoted the Captain as saying.

However, the younger one could not bear it any longer and told her family and other villagers about the incident, but the family and the village headman did not dare complain for fear of further punishment by the army, she said.

On August 2, a 20-year old woman from Shan State South’s Laikha township was also gang raped in front of her husband  by soldiers of the Mongkeung based Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)#514, which has been waging a four-cut campaign in areas where the Burmese Army and the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’ fought in mid July.

After the clash, battalions under the Mongnawng based Military Operation Command (MOC) #2 started waging a four-cut campaign ((cutting food, funds, intelligence and recruits to the armed resistance by local populace) in Kehsi, Mongkeung and Laikha Townships, Shan State South.

Since then, hundreds of villagers from the areas have suffered several human rights abuses such as sexual violence and killing.

On August 3, a 29-year old woman in Mongkeung Township, was beheaded by the same LIB#514 after she was falsely accused of being the wife of a SSA fighter.