A serviceman wanted for the murder of a young woman in Pegu Division is being investigated by his unit, and if there is sufficient evidence against him, he is to be handed to face a civilian trial, according to local police.

The victim, whose identity has not been revealed – though a picture of her has been circulated – was allegedly murdered by her lover, an air force serviceman, in Okshitpin town on 30 September.

Police investigating the incident uncovered CCTV footage from a petrol station near the murder scene showing the victim and the suspect riding together that evening on a motorbike.

Police have apparently also discovered that, in the days after the incident, the serviceman pawned and sold off some of the young woman’s jewellery that was noted as missing from her body when discovered.

The distraught mother of the victim, named as Than Saw, spoke to DVB about the ordeal.

“I want justice for my daughter – I am not going to give up,” she said.

According to Okshitpin police commander Win Ko, who interviewed the suspect in military custody, the pair had gone to a secluded spot near a chicken farm to have sex on the night in question.

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“Afterwards, the suspect said he was short on money, and asked her to lend him 20,000 kyat (US$15),” the police officer said. “She told him she was not carrying any cash, so he snatched the necklace from her neck. She started screaming, and he tried to cover her mouth. He apparently held on for about half an hour, until she was unconscious.

“Thinking he was done for, the suspect decided to bury her under soil and rocks. As an after-thought, he gashed her wrist with a glass bottle that was lying nearby.”