Burma army soldier accused of raping 7-year-old Kachin girl

Burma Army soldiers in Myitkyina the capital of Kachin state, northern Burma.

A Burma army soldier based in Shan state has been accused of raping a 7-year-old Kachin girl.  Family members of the alleged victim say the incident took place in the girl's home in Muse township on November 11.  The alleged perpetrator is a man named Ko Win Htwe from the Theinni (or Hsenwi)-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 323, the young girls' relatives tell the Kachin News Group.


On the day of the incident in question the girl was left at home alone to look after to her younger sister as her mother worked in a nearby paddy field.  Shortly after the rape is alleged to have occurred the girl alerted a neighbor that something had happened.

Shadan Ja Len, a neighbor of the alleged victim told the Kachin News Group that when the solder first came to the house he asked the girl if she was a girl or a boy. After the victim responded she was a girl, the solider struck the girl and brought her into the home, Shadan Ja Len said.

“My home is not far from the child's but I didn’t hear the child crying.  She ran to my home with her younger sister crying. She said a stranger came to our home and intimidated me", Shadan Ja Len told the Kachin News Group.  According to Shadan Ja Len the girl also said that the solder threatened to kill her mother.

When Shadan Ja Len and another women Daw Win Kyi went to the house the soldier told them that he was there to inquire about food.  When the girl's mother came back for lunch the girl recounted what happened.  The victim was then taken to hospital and treated for injuries she sustained to her genitals during the incident.

Several hours after the incident took place a group of villagers detained Ko Win Htwe while he was leaving the area. He was then handed over to local military authorities. Ko Win Htwe's current whereabouts are unknown.

Human rights groups allege that dozens of Kachin women have been raped by Burma army soldiers since the conflict began in June 2011.

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