Type of Incident

Rape [of a minor].

Date of Incident(s)

20 September 2025

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

Pz--- village, Pa Heh village tract[2], Bu Tho Township, Mu Traw District.

Victim Information

Name

Naw[3] R---

Age

17 years old

Gender

Girl

Ethnicity

Karen

Marital Status  

None [Single]

Occupation

Student

Religion

Roman Catholic (RC)

Position

-

Village

Pz--- village, Pa Heh village tract, Bu Tho Township, Mu Traw District

Perpetrator Information (Civilian)

Name(s)           

Occupation

Village, village tract

Saw[4] T---

 Farmer

Za--- village, Na Koh Hkee village tract, Dwe Lo Township, Mu Traw District

1. Explain in detail how this information was collected.

On 21 September 2025, at 7 pm, I [a KHRG researcher] received this information from a Karen National Police Force (KNPF)[5] authority. He informed me through a phone call that there was a rape case that happened in Pa Heh village tract. [The KHRG researcher then went to interview the victim and her family members.]

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

The person [authority of KNPF] who provided me [the KHRG researcher] this information arrived in Pa Heh village tract on 20 September 2025, and his arrival coincided with the incident. So, the authorities from Pa Heh village tract invited him [the KNPF authority] to participate with them [to take the action] on this case. The KHRG researcher also interviewed the victim [with her aunt and cousin present].

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail.

On 20 September 2025, at 9 am, a student named Naw R--- from Rk--- school, located in Rk--- village, Htee Ler Poo village tract, Bu Tho Township, Mu Traw (Hpapun) District, who is a 17-year-old girl, was going back to Pz--- village, Pa Heh village tract, Bu Tho Township, to visit her cousin after receiving one week of school holidays after her midterm exams. Initially, she travelled with approximately ten other students who were from different villages. On their way back home, they travelled by foot and also rested on their way. Eventually, [some of the] other students arrived at their village, and only five of them remained and continued heading to their homes. It takes 12 hours by foot and approximately five hours by motorbike from Rk--- village to Pz--- village.

When they arrived at the foot of a mountain at Pt--- village, Pa Heh village tract, Bu Tho Township, they encountered a man named Saw T--- (27 years old), a villager from Za--- village, Na Koh Hkee village tract, Dwe Lo Township, Mu Traw District, who was driving a motorbike. He stopped his motorbike, so Naw R--- asked him where he was going, and the man answered her that he would go back to St--- village [Pa Heh village tract]. She asked him whether his motorbike was available [as a taxi] or not. Then Saw T--- responded to her that he was carrying a package with him that he needed to transport to St--- village. So, Naw R--- asked him if he arrived at St--- village to ask someone to inform her cousin from Pz--- village to pick her up or to find someone to pick her up by motorbike. He responded to her that he had a walkie-talkie, so he could inform her cousin directly for her when he arrived at St--- village. She then told him that she would travel by foot until her cousin came [or sent someone to pick her up by motorbike].

However, when Saw T--- arrived at St--- village, he did not inform anyone. [Instead,] he drove his motorbike back to Naw R--- to pick her up. He lied to Naw R--- that her cousin was busy so she [the cousin] asked him [Saw T---] to take her [Naw R---] home. The victim, Naw R---, explained: “He came beside me and said: ‘Your female cousin asked me to pick you up. I will transport you to Tz--- village [Pa Heh village tract], then someone will pick you up from there.’ Then I asked him: ‘Did you arrive at my cousin’s place? Did you go to Pz--- village?’ Then he said yes. After that, I rode with him because I thought it was true. Because whenever I go back, my female cousin always finds someone to pick me up by motorbike. That is why I thought it was true, so I rode with him on the motorbike.”

In the evening, at around 6 pm, Saw T--- drove off the route and then stopped his motorbike and told her that his motorbike was broken; therefore, he would take her home by foot. Then, Saw T--- grabbed Naw R---, punched her stomach, threatened to kill her, and raped her there. The victim, Naw R---, stated: “I walked in front of him and he followed behind me. After we walked for a while, he held my shoulders and said: ‘Do you think it is your house [a kind of threat]?’ Then, he grabbed me tightly. I screamed for help. I told him, please don’t do that to me. I tried to plead with him to not do this to me, and I also screamed for help. He shut my mouth with his palms and he strangled my neck. Then, he told me: ‘Seriously! You raise your voice to me? Do you want to die?’ I told him: ‘Please don’t do this to me. I don’t want to die yet.’ Then, he released me, and I tried to stand up, but I could not. He continued kicking my back. I bit his hand and he slapped me. He squeezed my neck [again]. I tried to get up, but I could not. He punched my stomach ten times. I could not bear it, so I told him: ‘Please don’t do that to me.’ But he did not listen to me. Finally, I could not do anything. So, he started rape me. That’s why I could not get up.”

Then, he continued taking her [on the route] back home, and when they arrived close to Tz--- village, Pa Heh village tract, he raped her again. After, he no longer took her home. He raped her again at around 8 pm. The victim stated: “I called him uncle and he told me: ‘This is not your uncle.’ Then he continued: ‘I am falling in love with you. Could not you love me back?’ At that time, I was afraid of him so I lied to him: ‘I can love you back.’ […] He told me many things and told me: ‘If you can love me, you need to inform your parents.’ Then he told me he would go to my house with me, to my village, and would talk to my parents. But my parents were not at home yet [they were at Ks--- Refugee camp]. […] And he continued: ‘If you love me, you need to marry me.’ I told him: ‘Yes’. He raped me for a while approximately at 8 pm. I told him: ‘It is time to stop. Please take me home.’ It was also raining and I was cold. He did not listen to me. I continued begging him: ‘Please take me home.’ Then, he got up and told me: ‘Okay, I will take you home.’ Then he turned on the motorbike, and we went back.”

Afterward, before they reached the first house in Tz--- village, at a place at the foot of the mountain, he stopped his motorbike again. Naw R--- requested to him: “‘Please take me all the way home this time.’ He acted like he was dizzy, because he was still drunk. He then said that he could not drive the motorbike anymore. He dropped me [on a road] at the foot of a mountain. I asked him: ‘How do I go home? Do I need to go back by foot?’ He responded: ‘Yes, you need to go back by foot.’ I then told him: ‘If I go back by foot, do not continue to follow me.’ He agreed.”

After that, she continued to go home by foot. Since she had never walked alone and it was nighttime, she asked for directions from someone when she arrived at Tz--- village. One of the villagers from Tz--- village told her to just follow the main road directly. Finally, she arrived at the house of her cousin, named Naw N---, at approximately 9:30 pm. The victim stated: “It is better that he did not stalk me. When I arrived at my cousin’s house, my cousin did not know that I arrived. Then, I called her and she asked: ‘Who is it?’ I said: ‘It’s me.’ She lit her torch in my face and saw that I looked upset. So then, she asked me: ‘Who did you come back with? How many people did you come back with?’ I told her: ‘I came back alone.’ I continued: ‘After I arrived at Tz--- village, I came back alone along the way here.’ Then she asked me: ‘Who did you come back with before you reached Tz--- village?’ I told her: ‘I don’t know who he was. But he was drunk. He said he was from St--- village.’ Then, I asked my cousin: ‘Did you ask any motorbike [anyone] to pick me up?’ She said she did not ask anyone. She then continued to ask me: ‘Who brought you home?’ I told her: ‘I do not know that person. He told me that you asked him to pick me up. That is why I rode with him.’ Then, she continued: ‘Did he do something to you?’”

Naw R--- finally explained to her cousin what had happened to her on the way. After hearing this, her cousin called a villager from Tz--- village [to verify who had taken her cousin home]. She [Naw R---] did not know which villager her cousin contacted. Later, Naw N--- asked about that man’s [the perpetrator] appearance. The villager then described the man’s appearance as having a beard, being short, having light skin, and being bald. Then she [Naw N---] phoned another aunty [title to refer to someone who is almost same age as one’s parent] from Tz--- village and asked if she [the aunty] saw anybody return to the village by motorbike on that evening or not. The aunty told her that she saw someone return by motorbike. She [Naw N---] asked the aunty if he was drunk. The aunty told her that he was a little drunk. Also, he is a nephew of the aunty. After that, Naw N--- informed the aunty of what her cousin [Naw R---] experienced. The aunty told the cousin that her nephew had bad behavior since before [this incident happened]. Also, she [the aunty] requested Naw N--- to take action on this case effectively.

On the next day [21 September 2025], Naw N--- and her [Naw N---’s] mother went to St--- village to meet with a Pa Heh village tract administrator. Naw N--- reported the case to the village tract administrator. As soon as head of village tract and village tract’s authority, including the Karen National Police Force (KNPF), knew about the case, they started processing the case, then went to arrest the one who committed the rape, Saw T---. They took him back to the [Karen National Union (KNU)[6]] department from Pa Heh village tract and documented all the [relevant] information.

Afterward, the head of security [KNPF officer] from Pa Heh village tract and his people [KNPF officers] brought Saw T--- to Bu Tho police station [a department of the KNPF], located at the Bu Tho Township office in Bu Ah Der village tract, Bu Tho Township. They arrived there [at the department of the KNPF] on 25 September 2025. He [Saw T---] was put in jail as soon as he arrived at the police station. He was there for one and a half months during the investigation. He was then transported to the district-level KNPF jail. [A District-level court heard and decided this case.] He was fined 100,000 baht (3,112.84 USD[7]) to pay the victim for taking her dignity. He can pay it in two installments of 50,000 baht (1,556.42 USD) each. [As of April 2026, neither Naw R--- nor her family members have received either compensation payment yet.] He was originally sentenced to 13 years in prison. [However, his sentence was reduced to 12 years after an appeal to the KNU Central Court.]

Saw T--- is married and he has got two children. He is a former soldier of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in Brigade #5 [Mu Traw District]. He also broke rules [unspecified] when he was a soldier, so the KNLA punished him and dismissed him from his position. Then he returned to stay in Za--- village [before the incident].

The local authorities organised things for Naw R--- and transported her to St--- clinic located in St--- village, Pa Heh village tract. The clinic is administered by Mae Tao Clinic [a community-based organisation that serves internally displaced people]. A health worker named Naw Z---, with the position of EmOC [Emergency Obstetric Care], provided birth control pills, which were ECPs [emergency contraceptive pills], to her. She did not need to pay any expenses for the medical care. She was then looked after by the Karen Women’s Organisation (KWO) from Rk--- village. She currently [as of February 2026] returned to school and studies in the school. Her teachers and friends also provided words of encouragement to her, so that she will not give up on her studies. The KWO also conducted counselling with her.

After Naw R--- survived the rape incident, she was always encouraged by her community members to continue her studies and never give up. So, she always felt warmed and encouraged. She would like the international or local relevant stakeholders to take action on this case effectively, so that other women or girls will not have to experience this kind of thing in the future.

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

The victim herself and her older sister allowed us to use this information as appropriate.