An 18-year-old woman from Sa Nay Kone Village in Than Daung Gyi Township, Karen State, was subjected to gang rape and then repeatedly stabbed by junta soldiers, according to local residents.
The victim has been identified as Naw Htee Htar Phaw, also known as Naw Ngeh Nge, the mother of a one-year-and-two-month-old child.
At around 6:30 p.m. on 4 November, troops from Ba Yint Naung Training School and Battalion 124 entered Sa Nay Kone Village while advancing from Taungoo toward Than Daung Gyi. They established a temporary camp in the village and stayed overnight.
“One of the military columns advancing from Taungoo to Than Daung Gyi caused this incident in Sa Nay Kone Village,” a resident told HURFOM.
During house raids that evening, three soldiers assaulted Naw Htee Htar Phaw inside her home. Local sources report that she was raped by the soldiers and then stabbed multiple times in the chest and neck, leaving her in critical condition and believed to be dead.
The same military unit also looted valuables, money, and belongings from villagers’ homes, killed and ate livestock, and took cash from the donation box of the village monastery to buy alcohol, residents said.
This case is yet another example of the grave sexual violence and abuse being inflicted on women in conflict-affected areas of Karen State, where civilians are left with no protection or access to justice.
