Rebel group executes child rapist freed by military

A REBEL group has executed a man for raping and killing a fiveyear-old girl shortly after he was released in a prison amnesty by the military junta, a spokesperson for the group said.

It is the second case since December of a child killer and rapist receiving the death penalty from an ethnic armed group in Myanmar’s Shan state.

Myanmar’s judiciary has not ordered prisoner executions since 1988. However, in some border territories controlled by ethnic armed groups, a parallel legal system operates and capital punishment is exercised.

A court administered by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army in Namhsan township sentenced the 24-year-old perpetrator to death earlier this month.

Rebel group spokesman Major Tar Aik Kyaw said the man had received amnesty from the junta and had only been back in his home village for 21 days before committing the crime.

“Our court found that he was clearly guilty of this crime. He even committed (similar) crimes in the past. Therefore, the court gave him the death sentence,” the spokesman said.

The man had previously faced allegations of raping a 54-year-old woman and a four-year-old girl but did not face legal action after he paid compensation, according to the spokesperson.

He was serving a seven-year sentence for robbery and accessory to murder when the junta released him on Feb 12.

Myanmar’s junta released more than 23,000 inmates in February.

Shan state is home to several ethnic armed groups that control territories where their civilian populations are governed under each group’s set of laws.

In December, another armed ethnic group in the same state – the Shan State Progress Party – sentenced a 30-year-old man to death for the kidnap, rape and murder of a six-year-old girl.