Sentencing of the 'evil woman' who tricked and sold her cousin to a foreign country.

Deceiving and selling my cousin to a foreign country.

Recently, the People's Court of Nghe An province held a trial for two defendants, Vi Thi Ha (born in 1986) and Lo Thi Ha Trang (born in 2002), both residing in Yen Thang commune, Tuong Duong district, on charges of "trafficking in children." The victim in the case was Tinh Thi MX (born in 2004). At the time she was trafficked abroad, she was just over 12 years old.

The child trafficking case occurred nearly eight years ago, beginning with Ms. Chu Thi Phong's desire to find work for her daughter, X. It was in June 2017, as her daughter had finished school and she wanted to find her a job as a babysitter or maid. The mother approached Vi Thi Ha (her brother's daughter) to discuss the matter, and Ha promised to help find work.

Knowing that Lo Thi Ha Trang was married and living in China, Ha called to inquire about a job for her daughter, X. Over the phone, Trang said that going to China was only for marriage and there were no other jobs available. She also stated that if a family agreed to let their daughter go there to marry, they would receive 100 million dong, and the broker would receive 15 million dong as commission. Hearing this, Ha agreed.

Later, Ha met with Mrs. Phong and lied, saying she had found a job for X. Trusting her, Mrs. Phong agreed to let her daughter go abroad. On June 10, 2017, Vi Thi Ha picked up X. and took a bus to Mong Cai City (Quang Ninh). After that, Trang arranged for someone to take X. to China via an unofficial border crossing, while Ha returned home.

In a foreign country, after a few days of bringing X. to live with her, Trang sold the girl to a man born in 1994 in Hebei province (China) to be his wife for 314 million VND. Afterward, Trang had someone bring 115 million VND to Ha. From that money, Ha gave X.'s family 100 million VND, keeping the remaining 15 million VND for herself.

In 2019, Trang continued to sell X. to a second Chinese man who bought her as his wife for 83,000 yuan (approximately 275 million VND). Tragically, after nearly two years of being sold to her second husband, X. was again sold by another woman to a third man who bought her as his wife.

The victim's tragic ordeal only ended when she was rescued by the Blue Dragon Children's Organization of Vietnam and brought home in April 2022. On August 7, 2024, the victim filed a complaint against the perpetrators with the police. Four days later, Vi Thi Ha and Lo Thi Ha Trang surrendered to the police, admitting to their crimes.

The investigating agency determined that at the time Ha and Trang committed the first crime, X. was only 12 years, 6 months, and 25 days old. Therefore, the two defendants were prosecuted and brought to trial for the crime of "Trafficking in children".

From victim to trafficker

Before the witness stand, the two defendants admitted to trafficking victims to China. Defendant Trang confessed that she herself had been tricked and sold to China. While living there, she colluded with accomplices back home to find girls with the intention of trafficking them to China. She admitted that driven by greed, she transformed from a victim into a perpetrator of human trafficking.

In this case, the defendant Trang claimed she only benefited by 6 million VND. The reason was that after X. left, her first husband sought her out demanding the money back. Therefore, she had to return 55,000 yuan to him. When X. was sold to a third buyer, her second husband sought Trang out demanding the money back. The defendant Trang admitted to having to return 40,000 yuan to him.

In the case, the defendant Ha repeatedly shed tears, expressing remorse for her actions. She admitted to having a family relationship with the victim. However, driven by greed, she deceived X.'s mother by claiming she had found a job as requested. She then colluded with Trang to take the victim across the border to sell her. She claimed she only took X. to China, and that she was unaware of the multiple times the victim was sold as a wife there.

Vi Thi Ha expressed remorse for her mistake. Before the trial, the defendant had her family compensate the victim for emotional distress with 6 million VND. At the trial, her husband further compensated the victim with 5 million VND. Thus, the court noted that defendant Ha had compensated the victim with a total of 11 million VND. Defendant Trang had her family compensate the victim with 3 million VND.

The high price to pay

Attending the trial, the victim demanded that the two defendants compensate her for emotional distress with 100 million VND. The trial also revealed the arduous life of the young woman from the mountains, evoking feelings of pity in many.

According to relatives, X. was adopted by Mrs. Phong and her husband when she was just an infant. Because Mrs. Phong and her husband had difficulty having children, they showered their adopted daughter with all their love. After X. finished school, Mrs. Phong asked a relative for help in finding her a job. However, the mother never imagined she would be deceived by her relative.

After their daughter was trafficked abroad, they lost contact with her. Because they didn't speak Vietnamese and were in difficult circumstances, the couple lacked the means to search for her. It wasn't until much later that they learned about her whereabouts, but they were powerless to do anything. It wasn't until their daughter was rescued by a child protection organization and returned to her family that they learned of the hardships she had endured for over five years after being trafficked to China.

According to the victim's account, she was very shocked when she was sold to her first husband because she was so young at the time. Language barriers made her life even more difficult. In those circumstances, she was forced to learn the local language in order to communicate and live.

But after trying for a while, X., disillusioned with her controlled life and living with an unloving husband, ran away. She was then sold to a second husband. Just like the first time, she was subjected to the control of her husband and his family. Living alone in a foreign land only intensified her despair, and X. decided to escape. However, the vicious cycle repeated itself when another woman sold her to be the wife of a third man.

Being sold into marriage three times over five years was a humiliating ordeal for a young woman. Only after being rescued and reunited with her family did X. regain her composure. Afterward, she filed a complaint with the police against those who had sold her.

Having endured humiliating times abroad, as Ms. X shared, her good fortune was that she didn't have children. Therefore, upon returning to her country, she didn't have to worry like many other women who have to be separated from their children. She is currently working in a northern province.

This young woman confided that she wanted to work to earn money to support herself and forget her painful past. Through the trial, she also wanted to send a message to many other young women to be cautious when looking for work, especially against promises of easy jobs with high salaries abroad.

Regarding those who committed the act of buying and selling children, after considering the role of each defendant in the case, the court sentenced Vi Thi Ha to 10 years in prison and Lo Thi Ha Trang to 5 years in prison. In terms of civil liability, the court ordered the two defendants to jointly compensate the victim 100 million VND (after deducting the amount already paid).

The trial ended, and X. hurried out to the courthouse hallway to retrieve her luggage so she could catch a bus back to the North for work. In the vast courthouse courtyard, amidst the drizzling rain, the sight of the young woman struggling to drag her luggage as she continued her struggle for survival evoked pity in many.

Hopefully, after these events, she will find peace and continue her life's journey with strength, even though many difficulties still lie ahead...