A helpless nun in Myanmar fell on her knees and begged policemen to stop shooting protesters but they did not listen. Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng, 45, was captured on camera kneeling on her knees and pleading to two armed cops to spare "the children" and take her life instead. The video of the incident, which took place in the northern Myanmar town of Myitkyina in Kachin state, has since gone viral, winning her praise.
However, although the officers assured her that they were only clearing the road flooded with angry protesters, they soon open fired on the demonstrators. As thousands take to the streets to protest the military coup and arrest of President Aung San Suu-Kyi, army in Myanmar has been brutally killing dozens of demonstrators.
God's Messenger
The video shows Tawng kneeling on her knees and pleading to armed officers to take her life and spare the helpless children. Although she can't be heard in the video, which was shot by another protester, Tawng later said that senior officers assured they were just clearing the road in Myitkyina town on Monday but later fired at the protesters.
"I begged them not to hurt the protesters, but to treat them kindly like family members," said Tawng. "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."
She requested officers not to shoot as there was a hospital nearby and children in the vicinity. Tawng also runs a clinic nearby.
Doing Her Duty
The video also shows two officers touching their foreheads to the ground in front of them, while one also folded his hands. Tawng said the officers assured her they were only gathering to clear the road but later they opened fired at the protesters. At least two protesters were killed and several others injured, Tawng and other witnesses said.
The military spokesman and police in Myitkyina, however, haven't yet commented on the incident. Tawng's act of bravery and appeal for peace amid growing protests in the Buddhist-majority country has won her praise from different parts of the world.
Tawng's valiant plea to the military came after protesters took to the streets of Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state, on Monday carrying homemade shields. As police started massing around them, Tawng and two other nuns pleaded with them to spare the innocent.
Myanmar's military seized power in a bloodless coup on February 1, detaining democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi as it imposed a one-year state of emergency. The intervention ended a decade of civilian rule in Myanmar, with the military justifying its power grab by alleging fraud in the November elections that Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party won in a landslide.
