The self-proclaimed ‘exorcist’ who beat three children to death has been handed the death sentence, a court ruled earlier today.
After pleading guilty to the murder charges last November, the perpetrator, Tun Naing, was tried under Sections 302 and 325 for committing grievous harm and murder. Today, the Yangon Southern District Court sentenced him to seven years in jail under Section 325, and to death by hanging under Section 302, Mizzima reports.
Tun Naing was arrested last October for beating three children — aged three years, two years, and eight months — to death in an attempt to rid their bodies of evil spirits. He also reportedly gave the children’s families and other villagers ‘blessed’ water and put them in a ‘trance’, and killed the children as they watched. Police reports noted that the bodies showed signs of being kicked, punched, and stamped on.
While the death penalty still exists in Myanmar, it is rarely carried out. The most recent death sentence was handed out in the case of Uruma, the man who was found guilty of leading the October attacks on the Maungdaw border posts. According to official records, the last known execution under the death sentence took place in 1988.
In January 2014, then-President Thein Sein commuted all outstanding death sentences to life in prison.
Today, those handed the death penalty can make an appeal to the Chief Justice within a week to commute the verdict to a life sentence. If their appeal is rejected, a similar appeal can be made to the President.
