Raped and slain for not being Burman

Raped and slain for not being Burman

A former scout for Burma Army who recently fled to Thailand told S.H.A.N. he had been trying to leave home after witnessing a rape case where the victims were murdered after wards "for being Shan". 

The unfortunate villagers were: 
Zai Ku, 20, son of Sawzing and Nang Nyunt; 
Nang Aung, 27, daughter of Kham and Nang Mart; and 
Nang Oong Khin, 23, daughter of Zarm and Nang Long. 

The three were detained on their way to their fields outside the village of Hsaikhao, Kunhing Township, 146 miles east of Taunggyi, on 5 February, near Pangmaw Bridge by Captain Soe Soe Aung, Commander of Company 3, IB 246, he said. 

They were then taken to Koongnawng village, Kunmong Tract in Kengtawng Area, where the two women were raped by the said officer. "After he had had his fill, he called out to his men, 'Whoever wants to savor Shan women can come and get them'," related the former guide. "Both of them and Zai Ku were then beaten to death." 

The captain later gave a "pep talk" to his men that it was necessary to put the villagers to death. "If we didn't, the man will become an armed rebel and the women rebels' wives. Together they will breed offsprings who will turn into enemies against us," he was quoted as saying. "That's why we shall have to kill as many Shans as possible." 

The ex-scout said the incident was on his conscience all the time. "I knew I couldn't stay there anymore so I left," he explained. "And now even though I'm here in Fang (a border district of Chiangmai Province), I know I haven't been able to escape from this cruel memory." 

He said he might decide to go back one day. 

Infantry Battalion 246, together with Light Infantry Battalion 524, were reported by Shan Human Rights Foundation as having committed hundreds of extrajudicial killings in Kunhing in 1997 during the height of the offensive against the Shan State Army.