Myanmar gang-rape victim wins legal battle with military

Myanmar gang-rape victim wins legal battle with military Three rapists were jailed for 20 years with hard labour in a case that pitted a 36-year-old mother of four against the powerful military. In a rare acknowledgement of wrongdoing, the military on Saturday announced the verdict and sentence against the three rapists [Stringer/AFP] 19 Dec 2020 After being gang-raped by soldiers, steely eyed Thein Nu went up against Myanmar’s powerful military in a months-long fight for justice – a fight that paid off with a rare legal victory. Her three rapists were jailed for 20 years with hard labour, a sentence she hopes will give other survivors the courage to speak up and challenge the military’s impunity. The crime was committed in June in northern Rakhine state – the site of a nearly two-year battle between the military and the Arakan Army, which is fighting for more autonomy for the ethnic Rakhine population. “Many women like me have already endured the same thing,” Thein Nu – who has been given a pseudonym to protect her identity – told the AFP news agency.