Junta forces in Mandalay detained the wife and the one-year-old daughter of a man wanted for suspected ties to resistance fighters after they were unable to find him late last month, the man has said.
Aung Kyaw Htet, 29, said authorities detained his wife, 21-year-old Poe Ei Khine, and their baby at the family’s home in Obo Shwe Kyin ward on the evening of July 31. The baby was released two days later and is being cared for by her grandmother.
She is completely separated from her mother and unable to breastfeed, said Aung Kyaw Htet, who is also known as Tayoke Lay. The authorities have justified keeping the baby away by claiming Poe Ei Khine has Covid-19, he said.
“They said she’s Covid-19 positive and stopped letting our daughter visit,” he told Myanmar Now. “She’s living off of Ovaltine now that she can’t get her mother’s milk.”
Aung Kyaw Htet has had no contact with his wife since her arrest. She is being held at the No.2 Police Station in Aungmyethazan Township. Myanmar Now’s calls to the station seeking comment on her case went unanswered.
In June junta forces in Mogok detained the four-year-old daughter of activist Soe Htay, along with his older daughter and his wife, after they were unable to track him down.
Dozens of other family members of activists in hiding have been detained since the February 1 coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. More than 7,000 people are now in detention for opposing the coup regime, the group says.
