Type of Incident

 A 60-year-old villager raped two children

Date of Incident(s)

April 2023

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

C--- village, Way Th’Lweh village tract[2], Kruh Tuh Township, Dooplaya District.

Victim Information

Name

Naw[3] A---

Naw B---

Age

12

12

Sex

Female

Female

Nationality

Karen

Karen

Family   

-  

-

Occupation

Student

Student

Religion

Animist

Animist

Position

-

-

Village

C--- village, Way Th’Lweh village tract, Kruh Tuh Township, Dooplaya District

C--- village, Way Th’Lweh village tract, Kruh Tuh Township, Dooplaya District

Perpetrator Information (Civilians)

Name(s)                   

Occupation

Village position

Saw[4] D---

Unknown

Villager

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

The manager of the Karen Women’s Organisation (KWO)[5] in Kruh Tuh Township reported this incident to a KHRG field researcher. The KHRG field researcher interviewed both survivors and their mothers.

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

The information was provided by the survivors themselves and their family members.

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail. For each incident, be sure to include 1) when the incident happened, 2) where it happened, 3) what happened, 4) how it happened, 5) who was involved, and 6) why it happened. Also describe any villager response(s) to the incident, the aftermath and the current living situation of the victims. Please use the space prepared below, and create an attachment if needed.

A 60-year-old man raped two children in C--- village, Way Th’Lweh village tract, Kruh Tuh Township, Dooplaya District. The survivors’ names are Naw A--- and Naw B---. Both children are 12 years old and grade three school students from C--- village. The perpetrator committed these attacks in April 2023 but the survivors could not remember the exact date. Saw D--- raped both girls twice, on separate occasions.  The two survivors reported that in the first incident, they were raped one after the other at Saw D---’s house. Before he raped them, Saw D--- gave them water to drink. [After the children drank the water], they had a sore throat, felt dizzy, and had a headache, and they said [the water] smelled like drugs.

The second attacks were committed on separate occasions, on different dates in April 2023. A few days after the first incident, when Naw B--- was playing near a forest, Saw D--- saw her and called to her. She came closer to him, but as soon as she turned to run away from him, he dragged her and raped her.

In the school summer holiday, in April 2023, Naw A---’s father asked his daughter, his son and Saw D---, who was their neighbour, to put the cows out to graze on the pasture outside of their village. When they reached the pasture, their father asked Naw A--- and her brother to go and check if the stream had water or not. After they had checked, the little brother returned to his father to report the news. And as soon as Naw A--- ran to follow her brother, Saw D--- tightly grabbed one of her legs. Once her little brother went to swim in the stream, he raped her.

After the incidents were reported, Naw A--- and Naw B--- were assisted by the Karen Women Organization (KWO), at a location provided by KWO in Kruh Tuh Township. Whilst staying there, KWO provided the children with protection from the perpetrator and gave counselling. They also helped the survivors to prepare testimonial statements. As of November 2023, the children have returned home and are attending school. The perpetrator, Saw D---, was arrested and investigated by Kruh Tuh Township Karen National Police Force (KNPF)[6] police officers and detained at Kruh Tuh Township police station. The township leader was made aware of these incidents. Saw D--- is awaiting trial by Karen National Union (KNU)[7] Dooplaya District court authorities.

Did the victim(s) provide permission to use this information? Explain how that permission was provided.

The survivors and family members gave permission for KHRG to use this information.