The victim’s mother is in hiding after reporting the murder to the police.

A mother alleges members of a local militia group and the village headmen murdered her son in northern Shan State in Myanmar.

Pa Nang Kawng opened a murder case at the Myoma police station in Lashio charging the village leader and militia group with the death of her son Sai Aik Tun, who was 34.

“My son has a mental disorder but he never disturbed other people. The village headman and local militias arrived at my home and arrested my son on January 29. They beat him and deprived him of food while in custody. The next morning (after they took him) he was dead.”

After receiving death threats by the militia that they would kill her and the rest of her family if she reported her son’s death to the police, Pa Nang Kawng and her family left their village, Kaung Houng, and now they are in hiding.

“They threatened us that if the news leaked out my family and relatives will be killed. We are afraid to live in our village. They burned my house down and I lost my ID and family registration document. I want justice!” Pa Nang Kawng told SHAN.

Several attempts by SHAN to reach village authorities for comment went unanswered.

The victim’s family have sought help from civil society groups and Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) party in Lashio township.

Wan Liang Kham, an SNLD MP, said there must be justice for the family for the murder of their family member.

“It’s a human rights abuse committed on local people. They break the law and it shouldn’t be allowed to happen like this. We stand with people. I want to see justice for this case,” Sai Wan Liang Kham said.

Sai Aik Tun, the second in his family, has three brothers and sisters.