Burmese Troops Gang-Rape Woman in Church

Burmese troops gang-raped and tortured a grandmother in a church in the latest reported case of abuse by Burma's military against the predominantly Christian Kachin minority, BosNewsLife Asia Service reports. Christian Solidarity Worldwide, an advocacy group investigating the attacks in Burma, said the grandmother of 12 was taking shelter alone in a church on May 1 after other villagers had fled the country's northernmost Kachin State, near the Chinese border. "Burma Army troops entered the church, where they beat her with rifle butts, stabbed her with knives, stripped her naked and gang-raped her over a period of three days," CSW said. On May 4, she was taken to the hospital by villagers and reunited with her children, and is now suffering from mental health problems. CSW investigators who visited Kachin State this year said they had received other reports of the rape of women by Burmese troops. "Despite all the signs of change in other parts of the country, crimes against humanity continue to be perpetrated by the Burma Army against ethnic nationalities, particularly the Kachin," said Benedict Rogers, CSW's East Asia team leader.