Burma army soldiers cross to Thailand to sexually assault Karen villager

Two soldiers from the Burma Army attempted to rape a Karen woman in a location near the Thai border village of Mulu Chai [opposite Thay Baw Boe village on the Burma side], Phophra district in Tak province, Thailand.

On 5th of March 2012 at about 4 pm, two men Burma Army soldiers abducted a 22-year- old Karen woman on a road outside Mulu Chai village.

A member of the Karen Women Organization, who investigated the case, said the soldiers tried to rape the woman.

The KWO member told Karen News what the woman told her about the incident.
“The two soldiers were wearing their guns and uniform. She [the woman] said that she was forced to breath in some drugs and she felt dizzy before she was taken to a nearby forest.”

At the time of writing, the woman is still suffering from injuries sustained in the assault.

In media statement released late last night the general secretary of the Karen Women Organization, Dah Eh Kler, said.

“We are outraged and deeply saddened to hear about this attempted rape and brutal attack. Unfortunately, it is only the most recent case. We hope for peace every day, but this despicable attack reminds us how far we have to go to have the rights, peace and safety our community deserves.”

The woman is a mother of two children and came to Mulu Chai village on the Thai-Burma border with her husband to work as daily laborers.

Major Kyi Aung, Deputy Commander of the Karen National Liberation Army battalion #201 that operates in the area said that according to their sources, the two soldiers were from Burma Army Infantry Battalion #299, that is under the Military Operation Command #12 that is based in Thay Baw Boe village in Burma, opposite Mulu Chai village on the Thai side where the sexual assault took place.

“We received information from the DKBA [Democratic Karen Buddhist Army] located in Thay Baw Boe village that two Burma Army soldiers had crossed to the Thai side with their weapons. According to our inquiries, the two men involved in this rape attempt incident are the same two Burma army soldiers.”

Mulu Chai village on the Thai side and its neighbor Thay Baw Boe village on the Burma side are about 100 kilometer south of the Thai town of Mae Sot. Thay Baw Boe village is under the control of Burma army IB #299 led by Lieutenant Colonel Zaw Zaw Moe.

This is not the first incident of sexual violence against Karen women in the area. On 24th of December 2010 during a Burma Army attack on the DKBA in the area, including Thay Baw Boe village, a girl, 15, and a woman, 21, were raped and murdered.