Child Rapist, Murderer Sentenced to Death in Myanmar

A court in Myanmar’s Mandalay district sentenced a child rapist and murderer to death on Friday in one of the latest in a growing number of sexual assault cases reported in the Southeast Asian country, media sources said.

Phyo Htet Aung, 23, was sentenced in the district court in Pyin Oo Lwin township after being convicted of raping and murdering a two-year-old girl from Mway Kadoseik village in Madaya township on Feb. 13.

The girl was found unconscious in a banana plantation after going missing from her grandparents’ home and died later in a local hospital, and her attacker was later apprehended and handed over to the police, a report by The Irrawaddy said on Friday.

Speaking to reporters after the trial, deputy township judge Htay Htay Maw said that Phyo Htet Aung had been sentenced according to law.

“The court gave Phyo Htet Aung the death penalty under the provisions of Criminal Code 302/1(C). We were under no pressure from any persons or organization to give him this sentence,” Htay Htay Maw said.

“He received a 20-year sentence for the child rape, but he also committed murder, and that is why we sentenced him to death,” she said.

The death penalty has not been carried out in Myanmar for decades, and Phyo Htet Aung’s fate may ultimately be decided on appeal, if one is filed, and by prison regulations, The Irrawaddy said.

Full story: rfa.org

Reported by Khay Mani Win for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Richard Finney.