RANGOON — Police arrested a shop owner for the abuse of two underage girls who worked at the store in the Aung Mingalar Express Bus Terminal in Rangoon on Monday.
“We have sent the children to Insein Hospital. We received the report [of abuse] on Monday and we immediately went to the store and arrested the female owner,” said police officer Han Ko Oo.
Currently, police have charged the owner under Article 326 of Burma’s Penal Code, which covers voluntarily causing grievous harm by dangerous weapons or means.
“There will be additional charges against her,” the officer said.
The two girls, Htet Htet Zaw and May Thazin, are 12 and 10 respectively. Both girls were found with bruises over their eyes, and scars left on their bodies from being beaten or pressed with a heated iron rod.
In March, police in Mandalay’s Amarapura Township arrested a couple that owned a tailoring shop near Yadanabon University for the abuse of a 14-year-old domestic helper.
Ava tailoring factory’s enslavement of two teenage girls last September brought the abuse of underage domestic helpers into the spotlight.
