Woman shot during protest dies, first known casualty of Myanmar pro-democracy agitation

A woman who was shot in the head last week during an anti-coup protest in the Myanmar capital died on Friday, reported CNN citing a family member.

Mya Thweh Thweh Khine, who was 20 years old, is the first known casualty of pro-democracy protests that have been going on since the military's seizure of power on February 1.

She had been in critical condition since February 9, when she was shot at a protest in Naypyitaw, reported CNN.

At the time, a source with direct information about the victim said she was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound in the head.

Video of the incident circulated online showed a young woman suddenly falling to the ground while taking cover from water cannon at a protest.

Earlier, Amnesty International had analyzed images and footage from that week and said they showed a police officer holding a locally made variant of an Uzi sub-machine gun.

In a news release, the head of Amnesty's crisis evidence lab Sam Dubberley said: "The serious injuries sustained by this young woman were caused by the Myanmar police firing live ammunition directly towards peaceful protesters."

Meanwhile, in a February 10 Facebook post, Myanmar's military wrote it only used anti-riot weapons at the protest near the Thabyegone Roundabout and was investigating reports two protesters had been injured.

Mya Thweh Thweh Khine's death sparked calls for an investigation into the use of force by Myanmar's security forces.

Since the shooting, Mya Thweh Thweh Khine has become a symbol of the protests, which have intensified over the past two weeks. Illustrations of her image were seen on signs and banners as protesters called for the military to hand back power to civilian control and for the release of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other elected officials, reported CNN.

Moreover, public anger at the coup has intensified in recent days, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets in towns, cities and villages across the country.

The coup has been condemned globally; the UK and Canada on Thursday had imposed sanctions on three generals from Myanmar's junta.

US President Joe Biden last week announced the United States will sanction Myanmar's military leaders following the coup. Biden also called on the military junta to release detained protesters and civilian leaders, including Suu Kyi and Win Myint, and cease their crackdowns on demonstrators.

Myanmar is under a state of emergency for one year, after the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Min Aung Hlaing, seized power over alleged voter fraud in the November 2020 elections. That poll gave civilian leader Suu Kyi's NLD a landslide victory and a second term in power.

( With inputs from ANI )