“I’m not a man,” he replied in much pain. However, the man who was beating him did not stop.
He said, “I know, you are a woman since I saw your breasts” and beat him again.
His appearance is short and stout. His hair is cut short (in the style of actor Dwe, who passed away). He wears Longyi around his waist neatly. When he talks, he only says “I (Kabyar in Burmese), you (Kyoke)” bluntly.
He chews betal quids sometimes. When I first met him, I thought he was a real big man.
But he is not a man. Even his name is the opposite of what he looks like. His name is Ms. (Ma) Nwet Yin (a soft, gentle, and feminine meaning in Burmese).
He didn’t like it, but because it was the name his father gave him, he couldn’t deny it either. Now, at the age of 35, he is working to support his two parents.
The life of Nwet Yin was not as the meaning of his name. Nwet Yin was a vendor who traveled around the villages in Myaing Township, Magway Region, selling green and dry goods on his motorcycle.
He seems to be proud of his work. “I’ve been selling goods since before Dwe died. I’ve been selling with a bicycle since the time of bicycles,” Nwet Yin often told me.
He speaks bluntly, but he is a good-natured person. He does not count numbers regularly and gives a discount.
That’s why he has customers who shop regularly. His customers are like family. These are the facts I learned when I first met him.
At the time I met him again, there were bruises on the corner of his temple and the corner of his eyes. He said that he had been punched and beaten.
After that, he lifted his shirt up and turned it over to his back, showing the black bruises all over his back—including causing a beating with a bamboo slat. He didn’t have the same confidence in his eyes as before.
“I came out because I just didn’t want to stay at home. I don’t mind doing anything,” said Nwet Yin while staying away.
He was surrounded by people who were close to him and by shoppers. He told his story to the people around him.
That day is December 5th, 2023. He returned home after buying goods for the next day to sell around.
After having lunch, he visited his friend’s house in the north of the village. He fell asleep at his friend’s house.
Then, PDFs (members of the People’s Defense Forces) came to the house of Nwet Yin around two o’clock in the afternoon. They surrounded the house with about 20 forces.
A leader of the PDF asked, “Is this the house of (Ma) Nwet Yin?” Nwet Yin’s parents said in shock, “Yes. Why?” When some of them cocked their guns, some surrounded the backyard.
The man who seemed to be the leader said that he had something to ask Nwet Yin and asked them to show him up. Nwet Yin’s father replied that he did not hide him. He asked what was wrong with Nwet Yin, but he only answered that he had a question for Nwet Yin and did not respond to his question.
So, it is said that some called Nwet Yin on the phone, and some brought him in person to come back – saying the PDFs were at home.
“There are PDFs at home. They have questions for me, so I came back. I didn’t even have shoes on. My shirt was short-sleeved (sleeveless). I just followed them because they had questions,” said Nwet Yin.
He knew only Naing Lin, the head of the village PDF, among the people who came and got him. He said he did not know the others. After that, they took him by car to Than Myay Kyin Village, near the junction point of Pathein and Monywa Roads.
“When I got out of the car and I was going to sit down, they put a cloth over my face. Then they handcuffed my hands behind my back,” said Nwet Yin.
After that, the PDFs asked if he had sent the goods to Pa Pa in No. 1 Ward, Myaing Town. He replied that he had not sent her and that he did not even know the person who was called Pa Pa. He did not know what the matter was with her.
In the past, vendors such as Nwet Yin used to go to Myaing Town to buy dry and green goods and then travel to the villages to resell them.
Ever since the revolutionary forces took control of the area, food was cut off in Myaing Town, and the people from the town fled to the area controlled by the revolutionary forces.
Since then, vendors such as Nwet Yin have stopped shopping and delivering goods in Myaing Town, he said.
“If I see Pa Pa in person, I may know her. I used to buy goods in Myaing Town. But I don’t know people by their names. Now I don’t buy any more there. I don’t sell or send anything as well,” said Nwet Yin.
Even during the interrogation, the PDFs were forced to confess, and they started hitting him on the back with what was believed to be the bamboo slat. He was also punched. However, he was tied up with a cloth on his face, so it was not known who was hitting him and how.
“They asked me to confess. If I confess, it will be easier. The case will finish here. The elders of the village and the Pa-Ka-Hpa members (People’s Defense Force) would grant me. If I don’t confess, it will go to the top (superior level) or something. It will cause more trouble than that. They said it like that. I didn’t send anything to her (Pa Pa); it was not. So I didn’t confess,” said Nwet Yin.
He said that when he went to sell goods, they had to go through the PDF checking gates, take the token number, and go around and sell the goods, so he knew Bo Mike Kae and his force, who is the leader of the PDF that issued the tokens, the force knew that I did not make an entry or exit to Myaing Town. When he told them about it, “they replied, ‘not to tell that I got along with PDFs or others, and they don’t like it.'”
After about 45 minutes of interrogating and beating, he completely fell down with the last punch. He heard that some had left.
When it was getting dark, he couldn’t even scratch the mosquito bites. His whole body was in pain. After that, he said he heard the sound of the PDFs talking on the phones. At first, there were a lot of people, but then they gradually disappeared, and only four or five people remained, he said.
Until then, they did not take off the cloth that tied up his face. His hands were changed and handcuffed in the front from the time he was fed the water.
“Then they said that they got a phone call from Bo Khanaw. Bo Motesoe granted me. They asked me, “Do you know Bo Motesoe?” I didn’t know him, so they said it must be the force of Bo Mike Kae that you passed.” Then, they released Nwet Yin. But he didn’t know Bo Khanaw and Bo Motesoe.
Although he was released, he had to sign a pledge not to be involved with the military junta and not to send food or provide information.
He said that he did not dare, nor would he do, to be involved with the military junta. Maung Thant and Naing Lin, who are PDFs from the village, came to take Nwet Yin on a motorcycle. When Nwet Yin got close to the motorcycle, they removed the cloth tied around his face.
When he arrived at the village, he had to be treated with an injection to relieve the pain. The injuries from the beating were aching all night. But for the next few days, he couldn’t afford the medicine for an injection. Even though it was painful, he was only treated with oral medicine, he said and burst into tears.
When people around him told and encouraged him not to be afraid of anything and to report to superiors, Nwet Yin began to sob and cry, saying that he was afraid that more torture would come and that he did not dare to complain.
When Nwet Yin was crying, the bystanders were also crying. Sadness, pain, and helplessness in their eyes could clearly be seen.