Mon woman lured to Malaysia, raped

By HURFOM

WCRP - (Rehmonnya): A woman from Mon State was repeatedly raped by a Burman man who had promised her a job at his guesthouse and clothes store on Penan island, Malaysia. The woman became pregnant to the man, and was then forced to abort the child.

In May 2008, the Burman man persuaded a 24 year-old single woman from Thanbyuzayat Township, to migrate to Malaysia to work in his store. Upon arrival in Malaysia, she was told that he could no longer afford to employ her. She was instead, everyday, held down with robes and raped by the man. “After three months of this horrendous abuse, she became pregnant to her perpetrator,” said her uncle. The man then forced her to abort her pregnancy using a medical treatment that caused her much physical pain.

The persecutor, a 46 year-old man, is married to the victim’s cousin. The man is from Rangoon and has two children. “He both rents out rooms and sells clothes on Penan Island,” said the victim’s uncle.

Faced with this ongoing abuse, the victim made repeated attempts to contact her family in Mon State. She eventually made contact with them. When her family learnt the totality of her abusive situation, they approached the wife of the persecutor, ordering her to release their daughter and threatening to “take the case to the New Mon State Party Township authority if she was not released.”

Only after extensive pressure from the victim’s family did the persecutor and his wife release the victim and send her to join relatives living in Mahachai, Samut Sakhorn Province, Thailand. When she arrived in Thailand her relatives found her to be both mentally and physically distraught. According to her uncle, “She received 20 days of medical treatment in the Mahachai hospital for injuries incurred through forced sexual intercourse, severe torture and a forced abortion.”

After receiving medical treatment, and gaining some strength, the victim was employed by a Shrimp Company in Mahachai, where she earned enough money to pay for her transportation to return home to Mon State.

In December 2008, her uncle confirmed that his niece had arrived home safely and that her family is contemplating legal prosecution of the Burman man.