A narrative circulating on social media that a woman was stabbed before being robbed of her phone on a bus is fake and didn’t actually happen, said U Lyan Cin Mang, joint secretary of the Yangon Region Public Transport Committee (YRTC).
A Facebook user named Moe Thazin Soe posted on 19 March that she was held at knifepoint on the bus at Theinbyu bus stop on her way home from an accounting course, and when she tried to flee for her life by opening the door and getting off the bus, her bag and phone were robbed and her hand was cut by a knife, adding that other passengers on the bus didn’t help her.
In response to this news, Pyi San Thu Transportation Public Company Limited inspected every single bus in YBS 111 route under its supervision on 19-20 March and found out that there was no such incident on that day.
When answering the question raised, U Lyan Cin Mang said, “It didn’t actually happen. It is a fake post. We have submitted a letter to the Yangon Region Government saying that it was just a fake.”
No contact email, phone number or address was found on Facebook account of Moe Thazin Soe, who first posted the incident, and the post was no longer found on her account, the company said.
Therefore, the public are requested not to post or share false incidents and fake news on the social network as the company has suffered damage to its reputation, it said.
In case of any inconvenience while travelling on any bus or any bus line under the management of Pyi Thu San Company, people can directly contact its phone numbers – 09-676904820 and 09679604820, and as it will take the responsibility to settle the complaints, details of the incident like time, license plate number and location should be included, it notified.
MT/ZN
