Arka : An officer and three soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No.103 under the Coastal Region Command at Tenesserim Division, robbed and then stabbed to death an elderly Mon woman from Kyuak Kadin village, Kaleinaung Sub township in Tenasserim Division, according to a relative.
Captain Kyaw Nyunt reportedly robbed Mi Kyi, 68 years old, at her home at 11 pm on October 1st of this year.
“The old woman was a widow, her [sons and daughters] were not living with her due to they are working in Thailand. Only her granddaughter, about 12 years old, lived with her. Her granddaughter hid without shouting [hid in silence] during the robbery because she was afraid,” the relative reported.
According to the relative, the granddaughter of the deceased claimed that she found a knife near her grandmother’s dead body once the soldiers had left her home.
Kyuak Kadin villagers reported that after the news regarding the violent nature of Mi Kyi’s death spread throughout the village, LIB No. 103 contacted the village’s headman, and forced him via threats to formally release the news that Mi Kyi had died of natural causes.
Villagers from Kyuak Kadin reported that following Mi Kyi’s death, soldiers from LIB No- 103 were responsible for two further incidents in the village.
According to villagers, LIB No. 103 soldiers arrived at the home of Mi Inn’, a Kyuak Kadin resident, at 8 pm on the night of October 9th, the night for giving donations to Mi Kyi’s funeral. The soldiers reportedly let left the residence when Mi Oil’s husband began to shout for help.
On the same night, October 9th, at about 10 pm, villagers reported that the battalion arrived at the home of Mi Myat, a widow living in the village. The battalion left the house after Mi Myat’s shouts for help brought her nephew, Nai Mon Htaw, to her doorstep.
Next, the LIB No. 103 soldiers reportedly beat Nai Mon Htaw until his skull was broken. Villagers reported that the Nai Mon Htaw was finally able to escape his abusers and flee into the jungle, but that the battalion fired 3 or 4 shots in his direction as he escaped, all of which missed their mark.
Nai Mon Htaw has reportedly fled from Kyuak Kadin; LIB No. 103, based in Magu village, is reportedly still moving around the area near Kyuak Kadin village.
The events of October mark the second time this year that Kyuak Kadin villagers have made IMNA news after suffering abuse at the hands of Burmese battalions; in February 2010, LIB No. 282 killed a Kyuwak Kadin villager who refused to join the local people’s militia.
Kyauk Kadin village is located next to the Ye to Tavoy highway running through Tenasserim Division, and contains about 300 households. In additional to being plagued by nearby Burmese battalions, Mon splinter groups who have split from New Mon State Party are also active around Kyauk Kadin, and frequently trouble villagers.
