202 people killed since Myanmar coup: Rights group

JAKARTA, Indonesia

A human rights organization has revealed that at least 202 people have been killed in Myanmar since the recent military coup in the country, sparking widespread protests.

"Up until now, 202 people have been killed, and at least two people were killed today. Further casualties will be added when confirmed," said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) in its report released late on Tuesday.

The group said that as of March 16, a total of 2,181 people had been arrested, charged, or sentenced in relation to the attempted coup on Feb. 1 and the ensuing demonstrations against it.

"Detainees have not been allowed to meet with their relatives and legal representatives, no one knows where so many have been detained," it said.

According to the report, after the military junta declared martial law, brutal assaults and killings by the military and "so-called police" intensified.

"Yesterday night in Dawbon Township and Dagon Myothit (South) Township, Yangon Region, the military and so-called police raided the area and fired guns into the streets, resulting in three civilians dying and more than three people injured," it said.

The group said some injured people were arrested and died without access to medical treatment, the report added, with others killed due to torture while being interrogated and still others shot dead in the crackdown against anti-coup protests.

"The people in Burma were inhumanely attacked and killed on a daily basis by the junta coup," it continued.

Meanwhile, the families of dozens who died in the protests attended the funeral on Tuesday as protesters returned to the streets against security forces despite the rising casualties.

Hundreds of mourners gathered on Sunday at the funeral of medical student Khant Nyar Hein, who was killed in Yangon.

"Let them kill me now, let them kill me instead of my son because I can't take it anymore," Hein's mother said in a video posted on Facebook.

Myanmar's coup regime imposed martial law in nine more townships in the cities of Yangon and Mandalay on Monday, a day after security forces shot nearly 40 protesters demanding the restoration of civilian rule.

*Writing by Rhany Chairunissa Rufinaldo with Anadolu Agency's Indonesian language services in Jakarta