Woman raped, killed by Myanmar junta soldiers, militia members after checkpoint stop

Soldiers and members of a junta-sponsored militia arrested and tortured a couple travelling on the road in Sagaing Region’s Kanbalu Township last week, allegedly raping and killing the wife before the husband managed to flee.

Aye Mar Oo and her husband Kyaw Myo departed from the village of Nyaung Kone, Kawlin Township around 6am on October 16, to attend a ka htein—or monks’ robe offering—in Taze Township to the southwest, travelling via Kanbalu Township.  

They were arrested at around 9am by junta troops and military-trained Pyu Saw Htee militia members at a checkpoint on the Shwebo-Myitkyina road near the village of Sa Bai Nant Thar some 12 miles southeast of Kanbalu. 

The soldiers and Pyu Saw Htee members let five other motorcycles through the checkpoint while holding the couple for inspection, examining their identification cards and mobile phones, according to Kyaw Myo, 35, who later escaped.