The owner of a convenience store located near the Aung Mingalar Highway Bus Station is being prosecuted for abusing two underage housemaids — a 12-year-old and a 10-year-old — and threatening to kill them if they tried to contact their parents, reports Kumudra.
“I’ve been here [at the house] for about a month. They beat me ever since I arrived, and only fed me two meals a day. Whenever I told them that I wanted to go home, they told me that if I didn’t stop mentioning it, they would kill me,” recounted one of the victims.
For a measly MMK30,000 a month, the girls were forced to work at the shop as well as carry out household chores from 5am every morning to 1 or 2am the next morning.
“They hit our faces with belts and metal rods, and banged our foreheads against the cement floors. When we told them not to hurt us, they ordered us to stop shouting. They also hit us all over our bodies,” one of the victims told officials.
The case was brought to the police by Chaw Su, one of the shop’s neighbors. Chaw Su related that she would see the girls with injuries on their faces, although whenever she asked them what happened, they would say that they just fell.
“My house is right next to the shop, so I see these girls all the time. I always heard them [the owners] beat the girls and shout at them asking if they were scared yet and if they would do it again,” Chaw Su explained.
However, her suspicions rose about a week ago when she no longer saw the girls. Additionally, whereas she used to be able to go into the store to buy items, the owners began bringing the items to her while she waited outside the shop. Concerned, she contacted Yan Aung Tun, another resident of the neighborhood.
“Ma Chaw Su called me and asked for my help, so I went to the store to buy a phone prepaid card and I saw one of the girls. I called the police that night and asked for their assistance. We [the police and ourselves] waited in front of the house for nearly three hours because they refused to open the door,” Yan Aung Tun said.
Police finally managed to enter the house around 4:10 am but when they tried to talk to the girls, the latter were terrified of speaking to strangers. It was only when Chaw Su, a familiar face, asked them the officials’ questions that they felt comfortable answering them.
The girls were taken into custody and examined by a doctor. They had multiple cuts and bruises all over their faces and bodies, and are currently receiving treatment at the Insein General Hospital.
A case has been opened at the Mingaladon Police Station against the storeowner and defendant, Phyu Phyu Tun, under Sections 325 (“Punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt”) and 326 (“Voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the Penal Code. She is also being investigated for possibly being guilty of human trafficking.
