Family of Protester Shot by Myanmar Police Agree to Remove Life Support

By The Irrawaddy 13 February 2021

The family of 20-year-old Ma Mya Thwet Thwet Khine, who has been on life support since being shot by police at an anti-coup protest in Naypyitaw on Tuesday, have agreed to remove her ventilator.

A doctor at the Naypyitaw hospital where the victim has been receiving treatment confirmed to The Irrawaddy that the family made the decision on Saturday morning.

Ma Mya Thwet Thwet Khine (or Ma Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing) has been brain dead since Tuesday, when she was shot by police. At the time she was shot she was standing under a bus shelter, taking cover from water cannons, and she had made no attempt to get past the police barricades at the scene. She collapsed abruptly after being struck in the head by a bullet.

If she is taken off life support, Ma Mya Thwet Thwet Khine, who was a first-time voter in the 2020 general election, will become the first fatality of the police crackdown on the protest movement against the military regime.

Talking to the media on Wednesday, her heartbroken sister said words could not express the family’s sadness over what had happened to the youngest member of the family. She said the military dictatorship needed to end.

“I will continue to fight against the military dictatorship. To compensate for the suffering of my younger sister, I would like to urge all the people in the nation to continue to fight against the military dictatorship until it is rooted out.”

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