Toddler of Thandwe woman facing terrorism charges dies in prison

18 Feb 2022

DMG Newsroom
18 February 2022, Thandwe

The 2-year-old daughter of a local woman in southern Arakan State who was arrested on suspicion of financing the People’s Defence Force (PDF) and has been charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law died in Thandwe Prison on February 17. 

The dead toddler was in Thandwe Prison so that she could be cared for by her mother, Daw Nyein Ei Phyu Kyaw. The child may have died in prison due to poor health after undergoing a surgery, said U Tun Naing Kyaw, a Thandwe town elder. 

“Yes, the toddler died. What happened is yet to be investigated. The toddler may have died because she was born without an anus,” he said, referring to a condition at birth known medically as an imperforate anus.

 The child was cremated at a cemetery in Mazin village, Ngapali town. 

Daw Nyein Ei Phyu Kyaw was arrested November 3 on suspicion of funding the PDF, and her daughter was subsequently placed in her care while the woman awaited trial behind bars, according to locals. 

At least nine people — five women and four men — from Thandwe, Taungup, and Mrauk-U have been arrested in Arakan State on allegations of having ties to the PDF, a network of militias closely tied to the exiled National Unity Government (NUG).