CCTV evidence that could prove pivotal in the case of the Victoria toddler rape trial has disappeared, a court learned Wednesday.
When court officials tried to play footage stored on the camera system’s original hard disk at the hearing in Naypyidaw only to find the files had been corrupted.
The investigation into the assault against Victoria, a three-year-old girl who was given a pseudonym by social media campaigners, has been dogged by suspicion that the real culprit is being protected and the man now on trial is a scapegoat.
A girl, less than three years old at the time, was raped on 16 May at Wisdom Hill, a private primary school in Naypyidaw. Her case has garnered national attention, with citizens across the country rallying for justice for the girl, nicknamed Victoria, and for greater attention to child sexual assault.
Defendant Aung Gyi’s lawyer, Su Darli Aung, made an initial request to call technicians in to try to retrieve the missing footage. The prosecutor, Kyaw Min Aung, seconded the request.
The judge granted the request but no date has been set for calling the technicians in, and no technicians have been identified.
Police officer and IT technician Ko Moe, who has previously offered IT support for the case, told Myanmar Now outside of court Wednesday he would help again.
But, he said, he could not guarantee the whole of the original footage would be recoverable. It will depend on the court’s patience for unforeseen technical issues, he said.
“The first priority is to confirm if the hard disk installed on the device is the original one or not. We will only know after we check,” Ko Moe said.
