Myanmar: The woman who committed suicide by jumping to her death while fleeing the police

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

Even after six months of horrible news from Myanmar, the country is still reeling over an incident involving five people who chose to leap from a building they were hiding in, some to their deaths, rather than face imprisonment.

The police have labelled the group terrorists, but the husband of one of the victims tells the BBC that his wife was a caring wife and mother who believed she was helping to ease the suffering of others.

This is the storey of her premature death.

On Tuesday afternoon, eight young activists were caught in the middle of a police raid.

 

The military had taken power months before in February, causing chaos in the country as millions opposed the coup.

At least 900 people have been killed and many more have been detained as a result of the military's harsh response.

 

Wai Wai Myint was one of many caught up in the anti-military junta movement.

She was one of five people who leapt from a commercial building in downtown Yangon as police stormed the scene, landing on concrete.
At least one additional individual was killed on the spot.

The remaining three were transported to a military hospital.

Wai Wai Myint stands ramrod straight in the first photograph of her that circulated on social media after news of her death, boldly glaring at the camera.
Her three fingers are raised in the Hunger Games salute, which has become a signature gesture among young rebels in Southeast Asia.

 

The group she was with was identified by military authorities as terrorists planning to detonate bombs.

They've published confessions from two of the activists who didn't leap but were caught there, as well as photos of what they claim are explosives ingredients.

But her spouse, Soe Myat Thu, does not paint that picture.

He had to say farewell to Apple, as he refers to her, at a military-led mass cremation for her and four others, including the young guy who perished with her when they jumped.

 

There were no photographs allowed, and the relatives were not allowed to carry the ashes home.

The Myanmar military junta has been attempting to limit funerals for those murdered in the uprising against the coup, as they frequently devolve into anti-military protests, cremating bodies in secret rather than giving them to family.

Soe Myat is a Myanmarese word that means "
Thu presented her with a flower and returned home with it in place of her body.