Foreign Affairs

Video Shows Nun On Her Knees, Begging Police To Stop Shooting Protestors

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Video footage shows a nun on her knees begging police to stop shooting protestors in a northern Myanmar town.

The footage depicts Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng kneeling in the street on Monday, dressed in a white robe and black habit, as she pleads with two policemen, Reuters reported. The policemen can also be seen kneeling.

A nun went down on her knees in front of policemen in a northern Myanmar town and pleaded with them to stop shooting protesters against last month’s coup https://t.co/k3TwNAB0DI 1/4 pic.twitter.com/9PASCUvTTo

— Reuters (@Reuters) March 9, 2021

“I begged them not to hurt the protesters, but to treat them kindly like family members,” Tawng, who runs a clinic in the area, told Reuters. “I told them that they can kill me, I am not standing up until they give their promise that they will not brutally crack down on protesters.”

Senior officers reportedly told Tawng that they were merely clearing the road, the publication reported.

The video shows Tawng and one of the police officers touching their foreheads to the ground. Shortly afterward, Reuters reported, gunfire began. The shooting killed at least two protestors and injured several others, the nun and several other witnesses told Reuters.

“We heard loud gunshots, and saw that a young kid’s head had exploded, and there was a river of blood on the street,” Tawng said.

At least two protesters were killed and several others injured, she and other witnesses said. Tawng said she was blinded by tear gas as she tried to bring some of the shooting victims to her clinic.

“Our clinic floor became a sea of blood,” she said. “We need to value life. It made me feel so sad.”

Tawng also pleaded for peace between protestors and police last month, according to the publication.

Over 50 people have died during anti-coup demonstrations, the Associated Press reported this week. The protests come after the military seized power in February, ousting the former elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The U.N. Human Rights Office also announced that security forces shot at least 18 people on Feb. 28 and shot 38 people on Wednesday.

“It is utterly abhorrent that security forces are firing live ammunition against peaceful protesters across the country,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement. “I am also appalled at the documented attacks against emergency medical staff and ambulances attempting to provide care to those who have been injured.”