Myanmar coup: She was shot dead, her body dug up, grave filled with cement

MANDALAY: Hours after her family, friends and thousands of mourners laid ‘Angel's body’ to rest, Myanmar's security forces entered the cemetery under the cover of darkness, dumped the carefully placed flowers and wreaths, and dug up her grave.

The following morning, in footage shared to CNN and from witness accounts, among the detritus left scattered around the desecrated grave were razor blades, rubber boots, surgical gowns, shovels, and a bloodied plastic glove. Angel's grave had been filled with cement -- a thick gray slab in place of flowers and tributes, reported international media.

A glove is seen on the freshly-cemented grave of 19-year-old protester, Angel, also known as Ma Kyal Sin, on March 6, in Mandalay, Myanmar, after authorities exhumed her body. Outrage and grief followed for a second time.

Angel died after she was shot in the head in the city of Mandalay on March 3, during a demonstration against the military coup that forced Myanmar's elected government from power.

Wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "Everything will be OK," the 19-year-old quickly became a symbol of the country's deadly fight for democracy -- her image carried high on signs at protests and in artwork shared online.

People display a poster of Angel during her funeral on March 4. Her struggle was emblematic of a generation fighting for freedom and democracy against a brutal and unrelenting junta that has launched a systematic attack against peaceful demonstrators. At least 80 people have been killed and hundreds injured since the coup, according to the United Nations. More than 2,000 have been detained, with allegations of torture and enforced disappearances. Many have not been heard from since.

The pain of a generation of young people cut down in the streets by armed police and soldiers is fueling a white-hot anger and determination that activists say will not be extinguished so easily. "We will fight till the end, we will never step back, we will not be scared," said Min Htet Oo, a friend of Angel's who was with her when she died.

The day of Angel's death, March 3, was one of the ‘bloodiest’ since protests against the military coup broke out, as security forces opened fire on crowds of people across the country, killing at least 38. Images and footage, captured by bystanders, local reporters and citizen journalists, showed bodies lying in the streets surrounded by pools of blood as protesters ran to take cover.

Angel had joined the protests in Mandalay and was part of a core group of activists on the front lines that shielded other protesters from police advances, snuffed out tear gas canisters with wet cloths or led crowds in chanting, according to her friend Min Htet Oo. "It was very dangerous as we are at the front line and Angel was with us, she was the only girl in the group. She was the bravest, she was the most active one and commanding everyone at the front line," he said. Angel lies on the ground before she was shot in the head as Myanmar's forces opened fire to disperse an anti-coup demonstration in Mandalay, on March 3.

Around noon, demonstrators faced off with security forces down Mandalay's 84th street. Footage shows Angel shouting: "I'm afraid, but we will fight for our freedom" and "we won't run."

About half an hour later, activist videos show Angel and the other protesters retreating and crouching, as the sound of gun shots rings out. In one video before her death, she can be heard yelling: "People at the front, please sit down. You cannot be allowed to die."

In the moments before she was killed, photographs showed the back of her head turned toward the line of security forces. In a short video, activists say Angel's arm is visible before she falls to the ground. Fellow protesters can be seen carrying her to a motorcycle, which races to a makeshift clinic. A doctor pronounced her dead on arrival. The primary cause of death was brain injury caused by gunshot wound, said the doctor, who didn't want to be named for security reasons.

"She was ready to risk her life way before that day," said Min Htet Oo. A few days before her death, Angel had posted a message on Facebook offering to donate her blood and organs to anyone who might need it. "Her last words were that she was ashamed that she won't be a dutiful citizen for the country. I asked her what if she died, and she said its worth it if she risks her life to end this system," said Min Htet Oo.

Thousands of people attended Angel's funeral or followed the hearse procession to the cemetery on their motorcycles. Many held up the three-finger salute from the "Hunger Games" movies that has become a symbol of resistance among protesters.