TANINTHARYI DIVISION – Residents reported that a mentally ill man from Kanethiri Village, Thayetchaung Township, was severely beaten and detained by the junta council.
The detainee is Mr. Myint Soe, in his forties and from Kanethiri village. He was arrested on August 12 when he met the military council soldiers on patrol on his way to Yangel Village.
“He usually locks himself in his room. He left home around noon without anyone noticing. He is a mentally ill person,” said a woman from the Kanethiri Village.
Locals said that the junta soldiers arrested Mr. Myint Soe then beat and dragged him to the Snake Mountain in Yangel Village where they were stationed.
At first, the family members searched for him in the nearby villages supposing he was just missing. Only in the evening, they found out that the junta council had detained him.
Locals reported that the victim was beaten and tortured again on arrival at the junta station and now the junta soldiers want his family to get him out.
On the 5th of August, three men and two women who were returning to their homes in Yangel Village were beaten and arrested by the junta council. The two women were reportedly released on the same day, but the men were released after three days.
Junta soldiers have been stationed at the Snake Mountain in Yangel Village for the past two months, and have locked down the village without allowing the villagers to return home. Moreover, they reportedly often fire heavy weapons at night.