According to a local news source, two women were summoned and beaten up by the deputy circle PDF (Pa-Ka-Hpa) officer-in-charge (a circle level is higher than a village tract) and the village administrator because they were talking and laughing while they were having a meeting in Hnaw village, Kyaukhtu Township, Magway Region and they have been unable to get out of bed without receiving medical treatment.
On July 19th, a village meeting was held in Hnaw village, and it is learned that the two women were talking and laughing at the meeting, and they were not satisfied with that situation, so they were summoned and beaten up on July 21st.
“It is known that they were beaten up and the legs were locked in stocks and their hands were tied up behind their backs. Each was beaten more than 30 times. Both of them could not get out of bed and none of them dared to report. They were scared because they were beaten a lot. They were threatened. People did not like this kind of beating for no reason. But they threatened people saying if something happened, they would be killed at night and were taken outside the village and they said in the morning that they did not know which group did it, and would burn the body. So, the villagers did not have the courage to speak loudly “, said Ko Ba Kaung from a local news media, the Yaw Alinntan.
The two women who were beaten were 58-year-old Htay Kyi and 38-year-old Zin Mar Khaing. Zin Mar Khaing was four-month pregnant and miscarried as a result of the beating, according to sources.
MPA tried to contact the township PDF officer-in-charge and village administrators by phone, but there was no response.
“I contacted the person in charge of Pa-Ah-Hpa (People’s Administrative Department). When SAC troops come to village, people are asked to flee the village, but those women did not flee. They showed them to the houses of village defense forces. They shot the teachers in the village school with slingshots to prevent them from teaching. During the meeting, they disrespected the village administrator and said that they were speaking from the back. Do they have the right to hit like that? What are the procedures of the people’s defense force? Does the township have to take action against the people who beat them? They said they didn’t receive a report letter,” Ko Ba Kaung continued.
Although the township PDF officer-in-charge said so, it was learned from the locals that there was no burnt-down house in Hnaw village, where SAC troops have repeatedly raided.