Victims Of Shooting Demonstrations Against Military Coup Killed, Families Continue The Struggle

Illustration. (Twitter / @ thihathit09)

JAKARTA - Ma Mya Thwet Thwet Khine, a student who was shot by police at the anti-coup protest in Naypyitaw more than a week ago, was pronounced dead this afternoon.

"I feel very sad and I have nothing to say," said the older brother Ye Htut Aung while talking by telephone informing him of the death of his younger brother.

Meanwhile, the hospital where Ma Mya Thwet Thwet Khine was treated in Naypyitaw revealed that he died just before noon.

"He died in hospital on Friday at 11:15 am. Postmortem will be carried out on gunshot victims on Friday afternoon," a doctor from the hospital told The Irrawaddy.

The 20-year-old woman has been brain dead and has been using life support since being shot by police guarding a protest against the military coup on February 9.

When Ma Mya Thwet Thwet Khine (or Ma Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing) was shot, he was standing under the bus stop, sheltering from the water cannons. He made no attempt to get past the police barricades at the scene. He collapsed suddenly after being hit in the head by a bullet.

"The bullet that hit him was a live bullet, not a rubber bullet. He was brain dead. The bullet that was lodged in his head was still there, it could not be removed," said a doctor from the medical team in Naypyitaw who handled it and asked not to be named.

The military had asked to treat him, but the hospital and his family did not allow him because they were worried about his condition. Ma Mya Thwet Thwet Khine was the first victim to die in a police crackdown on the protest movement against the military regime.

Speaking to the media last week, sister Mya Thadoe Nwe said there were no words that could not express the family's sadness over what had happened to the youngest member of the family. He said the military dictatorship must end.

"I will continue to fight against the military dictatorship. To compensate for my younger sister's suffering, I want to encourage everyone in this country to continue to fight against the military dictatorship until it is eradicated, "he stressed.