Eighteen girls were held captive in a karaoke bar; some were as young as 13.
Eighteen teenage girls aged 13-20, whose phones were confiscated by Duong Phuong Thao, who prevented them from going outside and forced them to work at the Moonlight karaoke and massage parlor, have been rescued by the police.
On April 27, the Bac Giang Provincial Police announced that they have initiated a criminal case, charged and detained Duong Thi Thao (30 years old, owner of the Moonlight massage parlor), Duong Dinh Kien (28 years old), and Hoang Thi Ngoc (30 years old), both from Thai Nguyen province, for investigation into the crime of...to arrest, to detain a person unlawfully..
At the Moonlight karaoke and massage establishment (Doi Ngo town, Luc Nam district, Bac Giang province), young girls, including children as young as 13 or 14, were held captive and beaten for extended periods by individuals working at the establishment.
Hoang Thi Phi N. (16 years old), from Ha Giang province, was recently rescued by the Criminal Police Department of Bac Giang Provincial Police at the end of March after nearly two years of being illegally held captive by the owner, Duong Thi Thao (born in 1995), and other individuals working there to serve their karaoke and massage business. Even now, N. is still terrified when she thinks about her time there.
N. stated that around May 2023, she searched for jobs on Facebook and saw that this establishment was hiring waitstaff and cafe servers, so she took a bus from Ha Giang to My Dinh bus station in Hanoi. There, someone picked her up and took her to work at the Moonlight karaoke and massage establishment.
Initially, N. was hired by the establishment with a contract for a salary of 5 million VND per month for cleaning and serving. However, later on, N. had to select songs in the karaoke bar and massage customers. If she failed to perform well or if a customer complained, she would be beaten.
To avoid detection by the employees' families and law enforcement, Duong Thi Thao instructed Duong Dinh Kien (born in 1997, residing in Luong Son Ward, Song Cong City, Thai Nguyen Province) and Hoang Thi Ngoc (born in 1995, residing in Van Yen Commune, Dai Tu District, Thai Nguyen Province) to manage and supervise the employees.
The employees had to work from 8 am to 12 pm and from 3 pm to 3 am the following morning. All their activities and work were confined to a room filled with bunk beds and within the grounds of Thao's house. The entire property of Thao's family was surrounded by a high, completely enclosed wall.
Upon arrival, the employees had their phones and ID cards confiscated, and were only allowed to call home occasionally under the supervision of Kien and Ngoc. The calls were limited to informing their families that work was going well. Kien and Ngoc slept in the same room with the employees to manage and supervise them. When sleeping, Kien and Ngoc locked the door with two locks to prevent the employees from escaping.
Furthermore, the officers were not allowed to use their real names but had to use aliases given to them by their captors. Therefore, escaping and reporting the situation to the outside world was virtually impossible.
N. is just one of 18 girls – employees of the Moonlight karaoke and massage parlor – who were held captive. Among them were two young girls, aged 13 and 14, from the Northwest provinces who were also victims. The rest were mainly girls aged 16 to 20 from various provinces and cities, mostly from the Northwest provinces.
Many girls tried to run away, some even attempting to escape four times without success. In desperation, one girl picked up rat poison from the grounds and drank it, but luckily no harm came of it.
