Severe public backlash has erupted in Yangon’s Insein Township following reports that the Insein Myoma Police Station refused to register a criminal case or open an investigation into the repeated rape of an underage girl.
The family’s formal complaint, submitted on 22 May, details a horrifying pattern of sexual assault, chemical restraint, and death threats occurring in the 10-Mile area of Sawbwa Gyi Gone.
According to a legal advocate assisting the victim’s family, the systematic abuse began in April. The accused, identified as U Soe Moe, a man in his 40s, reportedly lured the minor, drugged her by mixing ecstasy and alcohol into her drinks, and repeatedly assaulted her. Despite the gravity of the allegations and the existence of up to 17 eyewitnesses, local authorities have deliberately stalled the justice process.
Commenting on the incident, a High Court lawyer explained that under Section 375 of the Penal Code, if a man has sexual intercourse with a woman, even with her consent, it constitutes rape if that consent was obtained by threat or coercion that causes fear of pain or death.
“Under the law, this is rape. If justice cannot be obtained through the hundred-household head or ward administrator, copies of the complaint and supporting evidence should be submitted to the township administrator and township police chief. If no action is taken there either, the case should be escalated to the national level,” the lawyer said.
The lawyer further stated that police have the authority to accept the complaint, investigate the case, and arrest and question the suspect without requiring a warrant.
According to a person close to the victim’s family, the family decided to file a complaint at the police station after the hundred-household head and ward administrator failed to take action against the accused, U Soe Moe, a man in his 40s. However, the police reportedly told them verbally to settle the matter through the ward administrators and turned them away.
“We pleaded with them and asked them to take action, but nothing happened. Eventually, we contacted the community police officer. He came, summoned both sides, and questioned them about the incident. When he asked the man, ‘Did you threaten to kill the girl if she told her family?’, the man admitted it in front of the officer. However, the officer said that because the incident occurred within the ward, any criminal case would first need to go through the local administrator before it could be escalated further. After that, the officer went to speak with the administrator,” said a person close to the victim’s family.
The family first submitted the complaint to the hundred-household head and ward administrator on 3 May.
“The man lured her, mixed ecstasy and alcohol into her drinks, and raped her. There are also eyewitnesses to what happened. When we reported the case to the administrators and asked them to take action, the hundred-household head showed no sympathy at all and told us, ‘Control your own niece. If you can’t, tie her up with a rope,’” said the person assisting the victim’s family.
Although the accused reportedly admitted to the crime and there are as many as 17 eyewitnesses, no action has yet been taken to arrest or detain him.
Currently, the victim’s family is facing financial hardship, making it difficult for them to pursue the case through higher levels of the authorities.
Local residents said that since the military coup, police forces under the military junta have largely focused on tracking down and arresting politically active individuals, while being slow to take action against suspects involved in criminal cases such as robbery, theft, and rape across Yangon Region.
