Incident Location (Village, Township and District)

Kyaukkyi Town, Kyaukkyi Township, Nyaunglebin District

A [KHRG] researcher was contacted by the victim’s mother for assistance in reporting the incident to authorities. The former interviewed the latter for the purposes of this report.

The source’s daughter experienced the incident first-hand.

In the evening of August 30th 2019, Naw W---, a 15-year-old school student was raped by Ar Kar Phyo, a 27-year-old police officer at the Kyaukkyi police station. At that time, the victim and perpetrator had known each other for two years. The latter was scheduled to be transferred to the Toungoo police station in late August 2019. At the time of reporting, the victim has stopped going to school because she is ashamed about what happened. Her parents want to engage a counsellor for her as she is traumatised by the incident and had suicidal thoughts.

On August 30th 2019 at approximately 9:30 p.m., two individuals, Ko T--- and Sayar Saw M---, saw Naw W--- in a school uniform at a bridge in downtown Kyaukkyi town. When asked where she was going to, she responded that she was going to the police station to see her brother. The victim’s mother has reason to believe that the perpetrator persuaded Naw W--- to meet him at the police station. Subsequently, the two individuals gave her a ride and dropped her at the entrance of the police station but were suspicious of the situation. They proceeded to call the local educational assistant, Oo Khin Maung Htway, and explained what they witnessed. After some time, they entered the police station and voiced their concerns to the police officer on duty. The police officers looked around the police station and eventually saw Ar Kar Phyo and Naw W--- half-naked in one of the rooms. In total, approximately eight to nine persons, including five or six police officers, witnessed the incident.

Naw W--- did not discuss the incident with anyone. The next day, the victim’s aunt, Daw N---, heard about this incident from individuals at the market and subsequently told the victim’s mother.[2] The victim then reported that she had been raped: “When I asked my daughter about the incident, she said that Ar Kar Phyo raped her once in the room.” In the morning of the same day, the victim’s mother and aunt went to the Kyaukkyi police station. A female police officer, Ma H---, confirmed that the victim was at the police station the previous night and disclosed what she witnessed.

On September 1st 2019, police officers in Kyaukkyi Town went to Toungoo Town and arrested the perpetrator. On the same day, they held a meeting with family members of both parties, including their parents, where neither party agreed to marriage.[3] While the perpetrator’s parents wanted to resolve the issue by providing compensation to the victim, the victim’s parents preferred to resort to judicial mechanisms and reported the case to the Kyaukkyi police station. The mother stated: “I am reporting [this case] to the police station for my daughter who is still young and also a student. [She] was raped by a man who knows [that he should] respect and follow the law. Therefore, I would like to take the action on this case.” On October 18th 2019, the perpetrator confessed to the police that he raped Naw W---.

According to a KHRG researcher, there had been no update about the judgment at the time of drafting. The victim’s parents do not know whether the perpetrator is still under arrest or not. Therefore, they are planning to report this case to the Karen National Union authorities.