Military junta troops have burned alive mentally ill local man and burned down numerous houses in Shat Pon village in Palaw Township, Tanintharyi Region, after entering the village, locals report.
According to the locals, around 200 junta soldiers entered the village on 18 and 19 September and burned down numerous houses.
During the raid, the junta soldiers also burned alive a man in his 20s named Maung Thura Ko, who was suffering from mental illness. They also arrested more than 50 locals who had sought refuge at Hta Min Swei Kyawt monastery, said a local woman who wished to remain anonymous.
A local resident reported that the junta troops began burning houses in Sanpya Ward of Shat Pon village on the evening of 18 September, and continued burning houses in the Mee Laung Aw Ward in the early morning on 19 September.
Although the exact number of houses destroyed is not yet known, locals claim that almost the entire Mee Laung Aw Ward was burned to the ground, and that elderly grandmothers were among the victims of the fire.
Prior to this incident, the junta army had already burned down houses in Ngar Maing, Thit Taw Hla, and Hpawt villages , and arrested over 30 residents from Hpawt village. The women were later released, but the men remain detained.
Meanwhile, locals report that the junta troops looted valuable items and motorcycles from the houses in Shat Pon village that had not yet been burned down.
Shat Pon is a large village in Palaw Township with over 2,500 households. Currently, thousands of local residents have fled to nearby villages due to the burning of houses and arrests and killings by junta troops.
On 14 September, the junta troops also burned down nine houses in Ngar Maing village and arrested more than 10 local men, taking them along with their military column, according to villagers.
Sent by Than Lwin Times.