Eight members of the civilian government’s People’s Security Force (PSF) in Magwe Region’s Saw Township have been arrested for allegedly raping a woman repeatedly while she was in the township’s jail for theft.
The eight men, who were guards at the jail, began raping the woman in the last week of April and continued to rape her in June. The alleged crimes occurred at a jail in Saw Township that was controlled by the local PSF, according to the township’s People’s Authority.
The eight men have admitted raping the woman while they were guarding the jail, local officials say.
Kyi Soe Tun, the leader of the township’s People’s Authority, said the suspects would be punished appropriately. “The perpetrators won’t be allowed to walk free. It will take some time to prosecute them in line with [judicial] procedures [but] they will receive fitting punishments,” he said. “They won’t wind up with light punishment just because they are on the same side as us,” he added, referring to the National Unity Government (NUG).
When the repeated rapes first came to light, the head of the People’s Authority in a suburb of Saw Township settled the crime by giving 600,000 kyats (about US$ 200) in compensation to the woman who had been raped repeatedly by eight men. She was also appointed to the local PSF.
Local residents who objected to the way the crime was handled filed a complaint with the Saw Township People’s Authority. Seven of the PSF jail guards were arrested on June 28 and the eighth was arrested on July 31.
The woman they admitted to raping had moved to Saw Township from Yangon about four years ago. She was impoverished and turned to theft to survive, local officials said. She was arrested for theft and jailed by the township’s PSF.
The eight jail guards repeatedly raped her from the last week of April into May.
They have admitted raping the woman,” Kyi Soe Tun said. “She was raped at least three or four times from the last week of April into May,” he added.
Kyi Soe Tun denied, however, that she had been “gang raped.”
He blamed the initial failure to bring the alleged rapists to justice on the chief of a suburban People’s Authority in Saw Township, saying the official had overstepped his authority to handle a crime that was not under his jurisdiction.
A complaint has been filed with the civilian National Unity Government against the official, Kyi Soe Tun said.
NUG spokesman U Nay Phone Latt said that local authorities had “handled the case on their own, and failed to inform those higher-up.”
“We will punish them if they violated procedures,” he added.
PSFs are under the command of the NUG. They provide law enforcement at the village and township levels.
Seven of the alleged rapists were new PSF recruits and were still in their probationary period. One had finished his probationary period. The eight suspects are being held in the township prison and have been suspended from the PSF.
The woman is receiving care from the township People’s Authority.
According to a June 17 report from the Burmese Women’s Union, a total of 59 rapes were reported since the 2021 coup. Most were committed by members of the military regime, but resistance forces were responsible for four of the reported rapes. Rape is an under reported crime globally, but extensive research has documented that the crime surges during armed conflict.
