He tied up his younger brother's hands and feet on the day of the memorial service.
(Baonghean.vn) - Due to a dispute over contributing money to buy tables and chairs for the church, Mr. De, residing in Nhan Son commune (Do Luong district), took his younger brother's offering tray to the ground, knocked over the fruit, spilled the ancestral portrait, and used a mourning scarf to tie his brother's hands and feet.
On May 15th, the Nghe An Provincial People's Court held an appellate criminal trial to hear the case of Vo Huu De (born in 1939), residing in Nhan Son commune, Do Luong district, on the charge of "Illegal detention".
Vo Huu De and Vo Huu H. are brothers. Mr. H.'s failure to contribute money to the construction and purchase of furniture for the church has strained relations between him and his brothers.
On the afternoon of December 2, 2018, Mr. H. brought a tray of food and offerings to the memorial service for his eldest brother the following day. Believing that Mr. H. hadn't contributed money to buy the tables and chairs but still came to the ceremony, Mr. Đệ took Mr. H.'s tray of food downstairs, knocked the fruit, the ancestral portrait, and the incense burner to the ground, and said, "This table is mine. If you want to make offerings, bring your own table."
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| Defendant Vo Huu De. Photo: Tran Vu |
Mr. H. said nothing and carried the tray of offerings home with his daughter. Upon returning home, Mr. H. borrowed another table and brought it to the church to place the offerings.
As Mr. H. and his wife were bringing offerings inside to light incense, Mr. De, standing behind them, suddenly wrapped a mourning scarf around Mr. H.'s neck. Then, Mr. De and another brother grabbed one end of a rope, tightened it, and dragged Mr. H. backward from inside the house out into the yard. Mr. H. was also punched in the left side by the brothers.
Vo Huu De used a mourning scarf to tie Mr. H.'s hands and feet behind his back. Then, holding Mr. H.'s hair with one hand and his chin with the other, De dragged him from the yard to the church steps and poured two bottles of liquor into Mr. H.'s mouth, but Mr. H. kept his mouth shut.
The incident was subsequently reported to the police. Mr. H. was taken to the hospital for treatment. After being discharged from the hospital, Mr. H. submitted a request for an assessment of the extent of his health damage and for legal action against Vo Huu De.
The Forensic Center of Nghe An province concluded that Mr. Vo Huu H. suffered a fracture of the anterior arch of ribs 3 and 4 due to external force; the bodily injury sustained at the time of examination was 5%.
During the investigation, Vo Huu De confessed that the reason for the conflict between the brothers in the family was that H. did not contribute to the construction and purchase of tables and chairs for the church. Therefore, when Mr. H. brought offerings and ceremonial items, Mr. De refused them, so H. caused trouble and damaged the tables and chairs in the church.
At the first-instance trial held by the People's Court of Do Luong District, Vo Huu De was sentenced to 6 months in prison, suspended, for the crime of "illegal detention".
Mr. Đệ subsequently appealed for a reduced sentence and requested that Mr. Võ Hữu H. be punished, while also demanding compensation for the furniture worth 500,000 VND that Mr. H. had destroyed.
At the trial, the defendant De failed to present any new details of the case, therefore the appellate court rejected his appeal. Vo Huu De was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment but given a suspended sentence for the crime of "Illegal detention".
