The problems with the ‘Victoria’ case

In a decision issued with little fanfare and scant media attention, the Mandalay Region’s Advocate General Office on Tuesday rejected an appeal by the police and Dekkhina Thiri District Advocate General’s Office to review the release of the main suspect in the nursery school rape case.

It said the decision by Dekkhina Thiri District Court in Nay Pyi Taw on December 18 to discharge Aung Gyi for lack of evidence was fair.

The police are back to square one in finding evidence that would bring to justice those who allegedly raped a three-year-old preschooler at her school in Nay Pyi Taw last May.

Investigators have lost a lot of time and, most probably, material evidence that could identify the suspect or suspects in the crime.

Police need public’s help

Newly appointed Home Affairs Minister Lieutenant Soe Htut said the case lacked proper investigation from the start.

He said these kinds of cases are not easy to solve, unless everybody cooperates in helping to identify the suspect or suspects.

“Police alone cannot do it. They need public cooperation,” he told reporters shortly after he took his oath of office in parliament last week. “It is not the responsibility of the police alone to solve crimes.”

However, some were quick to say that it is the main responsibility of the police to solve crimes. In the case of “Victoria,” a name given her by the public to protect her identity, something seemed amiss from the start.

When the victim’s mother filed a rape complaint at the police station on May 17, the day after the alleged rape occurred at Wisdom Hill school in Zabuthiri township, police did not immediately open a case but instead told the mother to return the next day.

Two weeks later, on May 30, police arrested Aung Gyi on suspicion of the crime, but released him on June 24 after finding little evidence against him and a test showing the DNA evidence found at the scene did not match him.

By this time there was increasing public outrage about the police handling of the investigation.

On July 4, police re-arrested Aung Gyi and charged him with rape.

Misses and failures

Accusing Aung Gyi as the culprit was a mistake, said legal adviser U Khin Maung Myint.

He said police seemed to have been fixated on Aung Gyi alone and failed to consider other possible suspects.

“All important links and evidence are strangely missing in the police and CID handling of the case. Public trust has dropped sharply, which will weaken respect for the rule of law,” he said.

Among these is the missing file in the CCTV hard drive submitted by the school that was supposed to contain the footage starting from the day of the alleged crime.

Interestingly, the prosecution witnesses from the school told the court they do not believe the accused could have done the crime.

“They did not give answers that supported the Myanmar Police Force’s suspicions that Aung Gyi committed the crime,” U Win Ko Ko Thein, who manages the Thetga Moe Nyo Facebook page, which actively campaigns for justice for “Victoria.”

Moreover, during the testimony of the toddler in court she pointed to other people as the culprits, identifying them as Ko Ko and Nyi Nyi. Ko Ko refers generally to older boys and Nyi Nyi to younger boys.

Firm in their convictions

Police Deputy Director General Major General Aung Naing Thu maintained that Aung Gyi committed the crime, because the DNA of the two other suspects, who are the children of the school supervisor, did not match that found at the crime scene.

However, Aung Gyi’s lawyer, U Khin Maung Zaw, said the forensic doctor who testified in court did not say anything about the DNA test.

The forensic doctor told the court that “Victoria” had indications of recent sexual intercourse, along with abrasions and bleeding injuries on her crotch.

When the court discharged Aung Gyi, the police told a news conference they were surprised by the decision.

They said it was too early to make such a decision, as all the prosecutors’ witnesses had not yet been examined nor all the evidence presented.

The news conference was streamed live on the Ye Zarni Facebook page, which claimed to be affiliated with the police force. It revealed the victim’s name and information about her parents.

People criticised the live streaming event for divulging the identities of the toddler and her family. A lawyer’s group moved to sue the police over the webcast of the press conference.

Continuing the search for justice

“We will try to identify the culprit and continue our campaign till the truth is unveiled,” said Htin Lin Oo, a writer who is a member of the Justice for Victoria committee.

U Zaw Htay, spokesperson of the President’s Office, said the police will continue the investigation. “The police force guarantees the real culprit won’t escape.”

U Khin Maung Myint said people can write to President U Win Myint to urge an investigation of the police handling of the case.

Note; Original Article(Burmese) From MyanmarTimes Journal