Karen Girl, 7, Raped and Killed: KWO

By LAWI WENG

The Karen Women’s Organization (KWO), which is based in Mae Sot on the Thai-Burmese border, reported on Monday that a seven-year-old Karen girl was raped and murdered by a Burmese soldier in Pegu Division on December 27.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, KWO Assistant Secretary Blooming Night Zan said that the girl was playing outside her house in Ma Oo Bin village in Nyaunglebin Township at 5 pm. At around the same time, a Burmese soldier from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 350 was seen entering the village. Villagers said they heard a girl scream for help a short time later, followed by gunfire.

“The victim’s uncle ran to the scene and found the girl’s body. She had been shot three times in the chest and she had been raped,” said Blooming Night Zan.

The family of the victims and the village headman urged the battalion commander to investigate the crime. However, the commander didn’t take any action, she said.

The incident follows a report on January 6 by a Mon human rights group that in November a 17-year-old Mon girl was gang-raped in Yephu Township, northern Tenasserim Division, by seven Burmese soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 107.

Aue Mon, a member of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), said the victim was raped while working alone at her family’s betel nut plantation on November 13.

The HURFOM reported the victim’s mother as saying: “Both the captain and his solders raped my daughter. She nearly died. My daughter was crying when she told the story. Those soldiers are not human. They are like animals.”

According to HURFOM, the victim’s family was afraid of the army and has since left the village.

Both organizations have previously accused the Burmese military of using systematic rape as a weapon to terrorize ethnic people living along the borders.

In 2004, KWO published a report titled “Shattering Silences” which claimed that Burmese troops systematically raped Karen women. The report documented 125 cases of sexual violence committed between 1988 and 2004. The report said that half of the rapes were committed by military officers, 40 percent were gang-rapes, and in 28% of the cases the women were killed after being raped.

“Women are not safe in the Karen conflict zone. We want the UN to put pressure on the Burmese military to stop using rape as a weapon of war,” said the assistant secretary of KWO.

Women’s organizations in other ethnic areas have reported similar incidents. In 2002, the Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN) released a report titled “Licence to Rape,” which detailed testimonies from 173 ethnic Shan women who had been raped or encountered sexual violence at the hands of Burmese soldiers.