Incident Location (Village, Township and District)

Military Operation Command [MOC] #-- established a temporary base at a monastery in A--- village on June 5th 2019 while they were patrolling around the villages. Their permanent base is located in --Town.

Naw R--- often goes to her plantation to collect durians. At 6 a.m. on June 7th,  a Tatmadaw soldier from the MOC attempted to rape her beside a path connecting her village and plantation as she was returning home. She was alone and there were no witnesses to the incident: "I saw him [the Tatmadaw soldier] standing [under a durian tree in the farm] just after I collected the durians. I did not see him when I went but when I was about to go back, I saw him standing under the durian tree. I am not sure but he might have been hiding there [in the plantation] when I went."

When she saw the Tatmadaw soldier, she immediately went to grab her basket in her hut and headed back to her house in the village. She explained: "He followed me from behind. He is staying in the monastery [at the MOC’s base] so I thought he would go back using the west side of the road [in another direction leading to the monastery] but he did not. I quickened my footsteps and so did he. The road is not so good [not properly constructed] because it is a mountain road [which is windy and undulating]. A few minutes later, he grabbed my hands and held me tight."

She continued: "I think he intended to rape me so I tried to escape. I had to try for several minutes. I even shouted loudly but no one heard it because he forcibly covered my mouth with his hands. Fortunately, someone came back from the plantation after collecting durians. […] I shouted again and I tried to escape at the same time. When the Tatmadaw soldier heard the passer-by, he [Tatmadaw soldier] ran away. He did not get to rape me." She said: “If that soldier had not heard someone coming, I would not have been able to fight him as my energy would have run out.”

Her husband felt bad about the incident but did not share his feelings with her. Instead, he asked her: “Did he rape you?” She said: "I know that he is worried. I can feel it. However, I did not want this to happen either. I did not know that they [the MOC] were staying in the monastery. I just went to collect the durians as usual because I used to go in the past as well."

On June 8th 2019, Naw R---, the village head, the village tract administrator Tee Saw G---, the village tract secretary, and a representative from the Karen Women’s Organization (KWO) went to meet the Tatmadaw commanders at the monastery to report the incident. They were able to meet with MOC Operations Commander and Battalion Commander to discuss the incident in detail. None of the soldiers assumed responsibility for the incident. On request by the village tract administrator, the commanders ordered the soldiers to stand in a line. The victim, who recalled the face and skin colour of the soldier, identified the perpetrator, who was beaten by his commanders several times [number of times unknown] as punishment.

The Tatmadaw commanders did not want the victim to share this incident with anyone. Since the MOC's camp is located close to her home, she is afraid of sleeping at home alone and is worried that they will put her in danger if news of this incident spreads. This has also caused other female villagers to be worried and feel insecure as Tatmadaw soldiers continue to stay in the village. They request that the Tatmadaw currently based in the monastery return to their permanent base. 

The victim gave us permission to use this information.