Two Men Sentenced to Death for 2017 Rape, Murder

By Lawi Weng 18 September 2018

Mon State — A court in Shan State on Monday sentenced two men to death for the rape and murder of a 10th grade student last year, according to a local police officer.

The two men, Soe Lwin, 40, and Sai Shing, 29, were each convicted on two counts — murder and destroying evidence — by the court in Kengtung Township.

U Aung Moe Khaing, a police officer in Kengtung, told The Irrawaddy that the court sentenced them to death.

“They admitted they raped and murdered her,” he said.

Ma Aye Pi La, an ethnic Lahu, was raped and murdered in December. The body was burned so as to hide evidence of the crime and left near the highway in Kengtung. Her boyfriend recognized her remains by her ring and reported the case to police, who then arrested Soe Lwin and Sai Shing.

The two men told the court that Ma Aye Pi La had borrowed money from them but refused to repay the debt, and that they kidnapped her while intoxicated.

“They [the men and the girl] knew each other. They had a money problem. They said they did not care what would happen to them, so they just decided to kidnap her when they were drunk,” said U Aung Moe Khaing.

Although the men were sentenced to death, Myanmar has not executed a convicted criminal since the 1980s, according to Amnesty International. They also have the option to ask the president to commute the sentence.