Everything will be fine was written on the shirt of Deng Jia Xi, better known as Angel, the 19-year-old dancer and taekwondo champion who had joined the demonstrators in the streets of Mandalay becoming a symbol and losing her life. Despite the optimism Angel knew very well he could die so much so that she had left precise instructions in case something had happened to her: If I’m not in good condition don’t save me, donate my organs and contact my father.
A bullet hit her in the head Wednesday as she protested the military coup. A friend of hers Myat Thu, 23, who was with her when she died, remembers her courage: She always cared about others. He picked up the canister of tear gas and handed it back to the police, then he broke a water pipe to allow us to wash our gas-irritated eyes. When the officers started shooting he told me to sit down he told the The Sydney Morning Herald.
Myat Thu and Angel took to the streets together with hundreds of other Burmese in Mandalay, the second largest city in the country, to demand the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the restoration of legality. Before the police charge Angel had shouted: We won’t run away but don’t shed our blood. A photo shows the girl trying to protect her body with one of the protest signs just before being shot to death.
On November 8, the girl voted for the first time and posted a photo showing her kissing her inky purple finger. I did my duty for my country he wrote. After the military coup he joined the demonstrators and did not take a step back even when the situation became dangerous. Like her, at least a dozen other people were killed with a shot to the head, which raises the suspicion that they were a target.
The news of Angel’s death immediately makes the rounds of social media. A photo shows her lifeless next to another victim. Many messages of condolence for his death with the hashtag #Restinpeace and #Restinpower. A friend of hers, Kyaw Zin Hein, wanted to share on social the words she had written to him on the day of her death: It could be the last time I tell you: I love you very much. Do not forget it. Now the protesters are afraid: This is not a war, there is no reason to use live bullets against people. Be human Myat Thu told the Reuters.
The United Nations Human Rights Office confirmed that at least 54 people were killed by police and military officers since the February 1 coup in Burma, while over 1,700 were arbitrarily arrested and jailed. The actual toll, a note informs, however, could be much higher as these are only the figures the Office was able to verify. Of the 54 documented deaths, at least 30 people were killed Wednesday in Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway and Mon by the security forces; another person was killed on Tuesday, Sunday 18 and five earlier. It is difficult to determine how many people have suffered injuries, but credible information indicates that they are, at least, hundreds, the United Nations stresses. gng
March 4, 2021 (change March 4, 2021 | 12:32)
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