YANGON — Myanmar’s military regime has refused to take responsibility for killing a 19-year-old woman who was shot in the head during a crackdown in Mandalay last week, saying the lead in her skull did not match police riot-control rounds.
It is the second time the junta has denied involvement in a fatal shooting since the Feb. 1 coup. Two weeks ago, the regime made a similar statement about the death of a 20-year-old woman in Naypyitaw.
Kyal Sin died at an anti-regime protest in central Mandalay on Wednesday. Witnesses said live ammunition was used.
Her body was exhumed by soldiers on Friday afternoon, a day after her burial because she was buried without a proper forensic investigation, a state-run newspaper said on Sunday.
The military statement said a piece of lead in her skull was different from that in riot-control rounds used by Myanmar’s police. Photos showed soldiers were deployed during the crackdown.
It also said she was shot from behind although the security forces were facing the crowd, the statement claimed.
Video shows Kyal Sin turned away from the security forces before she was hit.
More than 50 people have been killed since the Feb. 1 coup and more than 1,400 people have been detained.
A closed meeting on Myanmar at the United Nations Security Council on Friday failed to agree a response to the violence.
China’s UN ambassador, Zhang Jun, said the international community should act “on the premise of respecting Myanmar’s sovereignty”.
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