- Illustrative photo.
YANGON: Four women were reportedly killed in Myitkyina and Waingmaw, in Kachin State, within a week.
Of the four cases, two in Myitkyina were killed as a result of arguments.
On Wednesday (March 5) two women was stabbed to death in Waingmaw Township, while on Tuesday (March 4) the body of an unidentified 45-year-old woman was found in a garbage dump in Injangdon Street, Myitkyina.
The body of another woman was found dead with a rope around her neck and legs, covered in plastic sheets. She is yet to be identified.
A high school senior from Myitkyina said, "The increase in deaths and murders is due to the weakening of the rule of law.
"It happened in previous years. Now, after 2024, it has become more and more frequent. It is not appropriate for a woman to go out alone in Myitkyina after dark."
In Myitkyina, residents say that drug dealing is taking place openly even in broad daylight in some inner-city and outer-city neighbourhoods, and that incidents ranging from robberies to murders are also occurring.
A carpenter who witnessed the looting in the Jat Paungyan neighbourhood of Myitkyina said, "They just blocked the road and looted. They took away as much as a knife.
"The women were scared and cried and stayed behind. We didn't dare to go and tell the crowd.
"If there were no people in the houses, the water pumps would disappear. Many things disappear in every neighbourhood."
On Feb 17, a 15-year-old boy from Sankar Village, Waingmaw Township was tied up and thrown into a well to death; a computer was stolen and a man killed in Myitkyina Township.
On Feb 14, a stabbing incident occurred in Paw Oo Street; and on Feb 10, a young man was killed at the Japanese bridge garbage dump.
Between 2023 and 2024, robberies occurred in Hpakant, Moehnyin, Waingmaw, and Bhammaw towns in Kachin State, and no fewer than five gold shop robberies occurred in Hpakant.
In Myitkyina, village elders said the robberies were rampant partly due to the lack of complaints from victims, the lack of help from local residents, the lack of police presence, and the lack of peace in the area. - Eleven Media/ANN
