Scars on their arms, fingers, neck, face and feet illustrate how two teenaged girls were tortured for five years while being forced into domestic servitude in a downtown Rangoon household in Kyauktada Township.<\/p>\n
Ma San Kay Khaing, 17, and Ma Tha Zin, 16, escaped their abusers on Sept. 5, they told The Irrawaddy, where they said they were treated like \u201cslaves.\u201d Ma San Kay Khaing was just 11 years old when she began to work for the family, and identified her abuser as one of the family\u2019s daughters, Ma Su Mon Latt.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe beat me a lot, almost every day. First, she beat me on my feet. When I could not finish my work at night, and I fell asleep, then she stabbed me with scissors in my arm. She stabbed me in my back, and in my neck. The louder I cried, the more she tortured me,\u201d said San Kay Khaing.<\/p>\n
She reported working through the night and being allowed to sleep from 6:00 a.m. until noon, before being forced to return to her work, which included taking care of a baby and washing all of the family\u2019s clothes. She was locked in the house and paid just 15,000 kyat per month (US$12).<\/p>\n
Ma Tha Zin was employed by the same family\u2019s grandmother, Daw Tin Thuzar. She worked in a six-floor tailoring factory, called Ava. The two victims were friends, both hailing from Bawlonekwin village in Rangoon\u2019s Kawhmu Township.<\/p>\n
Referring to her abuser as \u201cGrandma,\u201d Ma Tha Zin said that the woman used a small pair of scissors to hurt her, although a scar on Tha Zin\u2019s nose marks an occasion where the grandmother hit her in the face with a knife.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever she felt I did not wash the clothes properly, or did not cook well, then she beat me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ma Tha Zin said she only was given one meal per day, once all of her work was completed, and sometimes the meal consisted only of rice. She said that she slept with only one blanket and no pillow or mosquito net.<\/p>\n
\u201cMosquitos bit me a lot while I slept. I spent 5 years like this,\u201d Ma Tha Zin said.<\/p>\n
The girls said that the family regularly paid them their monthly salary for the first two years of their employment, before cutting off communication with the girls\u2019 families. After that point, for the next three years, whenever the families would phone and ask to meet their daughters, the employers said the girls had left.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe called [the family]on the phone and asked them to let us see our children, but they told us that our children were not at home, and that they had just gone somewhere else,\u201d said San Kay Khaing\u2019s mother, Daw Nyo Nyo Win. \u201cWe went there, but we could not see our children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two weeks ago, San Kay Khaing\u2019s mother said that the Dala Township police station notified her of her daughter\u2019s whereabouts, and asked her to pick her up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was so happy to get my daughter back, but I cannot even think about compensation for how she has been tortured,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Investigation<\/strong><\/p>\n On Sept. 15, the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) called the parents of the two young victims to meet the abusers at their office.<\/p>\n The MNHRC also invited Swe Win, the chief correspondent from the Myanmar Now news agency. He initially filed charges at the Kyauktada Township police station regarding the case three months earlier, after a member within the family notified him about the abuse of the girls and asked for help in rescuing them. When the police failed to take action, he said, he contacted the MNHRC.<\/p>\n \u201cI told the commission about the rights abuse, but the police did not take action, even though I filed charges,\u201d Swe Win said.<\/p>\n The MNHRC pushed for an investigation, which was led by Col U Than Aye.<\/p>\n U Than Aye said that the family keeping the girls had not allowed him to talk to them privately.<\/p>\n \u201cI had suspicions at that time about the abuse of the two girls when I saw their appearance. I tried to investigate, but I could not do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The police issued a brief statement saying that Ma San Kay Khaing and Ma Tha Zin were exploited, tortured and treated like slaves. The statement suggested that legal action be taken based by the families of the victims or Swe Win, who originally filed charges.<\/p>\n Compensation<\/strong><\/p>\n Swe Win said that the police and the MNHRC had recommended that the victims\u2019 families accept monetary compensation for the crime, since a legal fight would be lengthy and held no guarantee of justice.<\/p>\n The families acted on the recommendation, and the family accused of the abuse paid 4 million kyats to San Kay Khaing (US$3,235) and 1 million ($809) to Tha Zin. The amount included three years\u2019 worth of salaries that had not been paid.<\/p>\n Swe Win was not happy with the compromise which was made, and said that the abusers were only convinced that they needed to pay the compensation after being threatened with legal action.<\/p>\n \u201cI even told them to apologize to the two victims\u2019 families. But they refused to do it. They said nothing to the families of the victims, and they just gave money,\u201d Swe Win said.<\/p>\n He added there should be a punishment for the long-term abuse.<\/p>\n \u201cThe parents of the victims had no idea what to do. I was only there as an observer and I could not say anything,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is very important to have justice based on the rule of law in a case like this. For me, I found it unfair to make a compromise like this.\u201d<\/p>\n The three family representatives who attended the meeting did not admit to violating San Kay Khaing\u2019s or Tha Zin\u2019s rights. They did, however, say that they beat the two girls for \u201cdisrespect\u201d and offered to provide evidence for how they violated house rules.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were just children,\u201d Swe Win said. \u201cIf the family disliked the two children, they could have just sent them back.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that he will not drop charges at the police station regarding the case against the family, and hopes to pursue further legal action.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to fight for justice based on the laws of our country,\u201d Swe Win said. \u201cThis is the only way to stop this.<\/p>\n