The event was spurred by the alleged rape of a toddler in a nursery school in Napyidaw.
Around 600 people in the northern Shan State city of Lashio participated in a protest to end impunity for child rape on Sunday morning.
The event was spurred by the alleged rape of a toddler in a Naypyidaw nursery school on May 16, in a nationwide movement that has become known as “Justice for Victoria.” “Victoria” has been used as a pseudonym for the victim, who has not been named publically. A suspect—a bus driver—was arrested following the crime, but released. He was arrested again in early July.
Protesters walked from Bawdayon monastery to the Byuhar junction holding placards calling for the eradication of child sexual abuse and promoting awareness through the hashtag #JusticeForVictoria.
“We don’t want to see another Victoria case. The death penalty should be given to rapists in the future, Ma Htwe Htwe, a protest organizer, told SHAN.
Thousands of protesters have marched over the last week across Burma to demand that the perpetrator be brought to justice in the case of “Victoria.”
The number of child rape cases reported in Burma has been increasing annually. Child rape cases made up nearly 65 percent of more than 1,500 reported rapes in the country last year, and nearly 68 percent of those reported so far this year.
