The victim, 47-year-old Nammye Hkun Jaw, was shot yesterday in his computer shop in Mogaung. Wounded in the stomach, he was finished off with a bullet in the head. A former leader of the Baptist Kachin Convention, he was active in the fight against drug trafficking.
Yangon (AsiaNews) - A murder that took place yesterday has sent shock waves through Myanmar’s Christian community, shaking it to its core.
The victim, a religious leader, was killed in Kachin State, northern Myanmar, on the border with China, in what his family call a targeted attack.
According to witnesses, cited by Radio Free Asia (RFA), at least three people stormed the computer shop of Nammye Hkun Jaw, in Mogaung Township, opening fire on the 47-year-old, killing him.
“Three men came and said they wanted to print on vinyl and shot him,” said a source close to the family. “They shot him in his stomach twice, and when he did not die, they also shot him in the head,” execution style.
A well-known leader in the local Christian community, Nammye Hkun Jaw Li was active in anti-military protests in Kachin State. He was also a former senior leader in the Baptist Kachin Convention and a member of Pat Jasan, a grassroots anti-drug group.
Nam Ma Tee residents are still trying to find out who killed Nammye Hkun Jaw Li, who leaves behind a wife and three children.
This incident in Kachin State comes at a time when religion is starting to colour political fighting.
Nearly two years after the 2021 military coup, the junta ordered the arrest of Hkalam Samson, a prominent Christian leader, on 4 December 2022, for his close ties to the Kachin Independence Army. He was sentenced to six years in prison on 7 April 2023.
(Photo: Radio Free Asia)