Myanmar’s leaders have joined a countrywide campaign calling for justice over the alleged rape of a toddler in a private Naypyidaw nursery.
State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and president Win Myint have urged law enforcement and home ministry officials to take action, government spokesperson Zaw Htay posted on Facebook yesterday, in a case that has shocked the nation.
A two-year-old girl was allegedly raped at Wisdom Hill School in Zabuthiri township. According to local media reports, the girl’s mother filed a complaint at the township police station on May 17 and police detained a suspect on May 30.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) took over the case and released the suspect on June 24. A lawyer told newspaper The Daily Eleven that the remand period for the suspect had expired and DNA evidence did not match the accused.
In Myanmar, where government statistics show that child rape accounts for more than half of the total number of reported sexual assault cases, the absence of charges so far over the crime has left people furious.
Thousands of social media users have begun posting #JusticeforVictoria and switched their profile pictures to a black silhouette of a toddler.
A Justice for Victoria Facebook page has also been launched, which at the time of writing had over 92,300 followers.
Government spokesperson Zaw Htay said the inboxes of state leaders’ Facebook pages have been filled with messages demanding justice.
He said progress reports are being sent to the leaders, adding that government and private schools had been sent rules to “prevent such cases” and all schools “must ensure the safety of schoolchildren.”
“Regarding the case, we understand public demands and comments. Like the public, we also wish to see the justice is brought as quickly as possible,” he said.
Concern spread among the parents of children at Wisdom Hill School on May 31 when the account of Facebook username Poe Phyu posted that a girl had been sexually abused at the school.
Parents asked authorities why the school had deactivated its Facebook page after the news went viral, reported news outlet The Irrawaddy, insisting they should have been informed immediately.
The school's vice principal Daw Khaing Thazin has denied that the incident happened inside the school.
