A soldier from Burma Army Light Infantry Battalion 336 raped a 62-year-old woman after several soldiers stole food from her home in northern Shan State, a source told KNG

A woman from Kutkai Township, where she said the rape occurred, told KNG that three soldiers approached two women at a house in Hper Khit at around 2pm on Sunday 7 November and told them to give them vegetables. After they left, one of the women went to feed her pigs. One of the soldiers returned and raped the woman still in the house.

When the other soldiers returned and discovered that the man was raping her, they tried to stop him and he attacked them with a knife. In the end, the rapist suffered a knife wound to the head when the other soldiers fought back, the source said.

Villagers have reported the incident to his senior officers.

In the past, soldiers have raped several women in Kutkai Township including a mother from Nawng Cho in Loikan village tract and another mother from Nam Sung in Dein Garee village tract.

In 2016, soldiers were sentenced to 14 years in prison for raping a 17-year-old from Nam Kut.

According to rights groups, the military has frequently used the rape of women as a weapon in its war against Burma’s ethnic nationalities.