Three Pyu Saw Htee members from Kan Ni village in Myaing Township, Magway Region, have defected with their families and exposed the systematic sexual abuse of young women by their leader. The defectors revealed that the Pyu Saw Htee leader had been using weapons to threaten and sexually assault young women in the village, forcing them to become his concubines. The group of defectors included two Pyu Saw Htee members in their thirties and one in their twenties, along with three children. They fled from Kan Ni Pyu village on May 7 and contacted local defense forces expressing their desire to defect.
According to an official from Battalion 15 in Pakokku District, among those who defected, two were individuals who had been forced to take up arms, while the third was the wife of a Pyu Saw Htee member. During interrogation, they disclosed that the Pyu Saw Htee leader in Kan Ni village had been using his position and weapons to coerce young women in the village into becoming his concubines. Some of these women are now pregnant. These abuses have reportedly been ongoing since the previous year, demonstrating a pattern of systematic sexual violence against village women.
Currently, the Kan Ni Pyu Saw Htee camp is under blockade by People’s Defense Forces, resulting in severe food shortages. The oppressive treatment by military council-affiliated Pyu Saw Htee members has led to frequent defections from the area, with increasing numbers of people seeking to escape. This situation clearly illustrates the human rights violations and crimes being committed by military council-affiliated forces. The defectors’ testimonies provide crucial evidence of the systematic abuse of power and sexual violence being perpetrated against civilian populations under military council control.
