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Myanmar protests: 7-year-old girl shot dead, becomes youngest victim of crackdown

Aid organisations say over 20 children have been killed by the military so far

Protesters detained by police during the anti-coup demonstrations react after being released at Tamwe township police station in Yangon | Reuters Protesters detained by police during the anti-coup demonstrations react after being released at Tamwe township police station in Yangon | Reuters

A seven-year-old girl has become the latest casualty of the police crackdown in Myanmar, as clashes between protesters and the military junta continue into their eighth week.

Khin Myo Chit, 7, was shot dead by police while she was running toward her father during a police raid on their home in Mandalay, the BBC reported. Community Media outlet Myanmar Muslim Media said her father, U Maung Ko Hashin Bai said his child’s last words were,”I can’t Father, it’s too painful”. She died half an hour later while she was taken in a car to seek medical treatment.

Her 19-year-old brother was also beaten and arrested by police.

According to NGO Save the Children, over 20 children have been killed by the military so far. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) says at least 261 people have died so far in the protests.

Myanmar Now said the girl was shot in the abdomen by a soldier while she sat in her father’s lap inside their home. According to the news outlet, the military arrived I the area with motorbikes and other vehicles and kicked in the door of her house. When her father was asked whether the six family members were the only people in the house, a soldier accused him of lying and fired at him, hitting the small girl instead.

They then beat her brother with the butts of their guns and took him away, threatening the family saying they would shoot again.

“My father also didn’t know what to do because the kid was in his arms… They told him to give them the kid,” Khin Myo Chit’s sister Aye Chan Sad told Myanmar Now.

Hundreds of people imprisoned for protesting last month's coup were released Wednesday in the first apparent gesture by the military to try to placate the protest movement.

Witnesses outside Insein Prison in Yangon saw busloads of mostly young people, looking happy with some flashing the three-finger gesture of defiance adopted by the protest movement. State-run TV said a total of 628 were freed.

The prisoners appear to be the hundreds of students detained in early March while demonstrating against the Feb. 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

One lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity because she doesn't want attention from the authorities, said all those released were arrested on March 3. She said only 55 people detained in connection with the protests remained in the prison, and it is likely they will all face charges under Section 505(A) of the Penal Code, which carries a penalty of up to three years in prison.

Myanmar's Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says it has confirmed the killings of 275 people in connection with the post-coup crackdown, with additional deaths still unverified. It also says that as of Tuesday, it had verified arrest or charges against 2,812 people, of whom 2,418 remain in custody or with outstanding charges.
Demonstrators on Wednesday tried a new tactic that they dubbed a silence strike, calling on people to stay home and businesses to close for the day.

The extent of the strike was difficult to gauge, but social media users posted photos from cities and towns showing streets empty of activity save for the occasional stray dog.

The online meme posted to publicize the action called silence “the loudest scream” and explained its purpose was to honor the movement's fallen heroes, to recharge protesters' energy and to contradict the junta's claims that “everything is back to normal.”

With inputs from PTI

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