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YANGON: Hundreds of mourners gathered in Myanmar on Thursday (March 4) for the funeral of a 19-year-old protester shot to death at a demonstration against the military government.
Angel, also known as Kyal Sin, was shot in the head and killed in the city of Mandalay on Wednesday while wearing a T-shirt with the message “Everything will be fine.”
Mourners, many of them young people like her, paraded in front of her open casket and sang songs of protest, raised a three-fingered salute of defiance and chanted slogans against the February 1 military coup that has thrown the country into confusion.
Angel was one of 38 people killed on Wednesday, according to a United Nations tally. A spokesperson for the board did not respond to a request for comment on the killings.
READ: Myanmar police dissolve protests again after the bloodiest day since the coup
Protesters lie on the ground after police opened fire to disperse a protest against the coup in Mandalay, Myanmar, on March 3, 2021. Among them, Angel (lower left), also known as Kyal Sin, stands covered before he was shot in the head. . (Photo: Reuters)
Sai Tun, 32, who attended the funeral, said he could not accept what had happened to him.
“We feel so angry at his inhuman behavior and very sad at the same time,” he told Reuters by phone.
“We will fight the dictatorship to the end. We must win.”
Despite the slogan on his shirt, Angel was aware of the risk as he addressed the protest, posting details of his blood group, a contact number and a request to donate his body in the event of his death.
READ: Myanmar soldiers use TikTok to threaten protesters, says digital rights group
Thousands of people attended Kyal Sin’s funeral in Mandalay, many of them with the motto: “Everything will be fine.” (Photo: AFP)
The phrase on the shirt quickly went viral on social media among opponents of the coup.
More than 50 people have now died as the military struggles to assert its authority, particularly in a generation that has grown up in recent years under a government headed by democracy defender Aung San Suu Kyi.
The military, which ruled for nearly 50 years until it began to move away from politics a decade ago, said an election Aung San Suu Kyi won overwhelmingly in November was marred by fraud. The electoral commission dismissed the complaint for fraud.
READ: Singapore advises citizens to consider leaving Myanmar as soon as possible
Funeral procession for, also known as Kyal Sin, in Mandalay, Myanmar on March 4, 2021. (Photo: Reuters / Mizzima Daily)
In the central city of Monywa, family and friends mourned the death of the young poet TZ Win, who was also killed on Wednesday.
The day before his death, he posted a poem on Facebook with the phrase: “The louder the youth song, the more the world will be cleaned up.”
