Sentence for 'evil woman' who tricked and sold her cousin to a foreign country

Tricked and sold cousins ​​to foreign countries

Recently, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a trial of 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, for the crime of "Buying and selling children". The victim in the case is Tinh Thi MX (born in 2004). At the time she was taken to the country to be sold, she was just over 12 years old.

The child trafficking case happened nearly 8 years ago, starting from the desire to find a job for her child by Ms. Chu Thi Phong - X's mother. That was in June 2017, because her daughter had dropped out of school, she wanted to find a babysitting or maid job for her child. This mother met Vi Thi Ha (her younger brother's daughter) to discuss the matter and was promised by this woman to help find a job.

Knowing that Lo Thi Ha Trang was married and living in China, Ha called to ask for a job for X. Over the phone, Trang said that she was going to China only to get married, there was no job to do. This woman also said that if any family agreed to let their daughter go there to get married, they would receive 100 million VND, and the broker would receive 15 million VND as a commission. Hearing that, Ha agreed.

After that, Ha met Mrs. Phong and lied that 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 asked someone to take X to China through a small border route, while Ha returned home.

In a foreign country, after a few days of bringing X. to live in her home, Trang sold her to a man born in 1994 in Hebei province (China) to marry for 314 million VND. After that, Trang asked someone to bring Ha 115 million VND. From that amount, Ha gave X.'s family 100 million VND, and pocketed the remaining 15 million VND.

In 2019, Trang continued to sell X. to a second Chinese man to buy her as a wife for 83,000 yuan (about 275 million VND). The bitter thing is that after nearly 2 years of being sold to her second husband, X. was sold by another woman to a third man to buy her as a wife.

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

The investigation 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 "Buying and selling children".

From victim to trafficker

In the witness stand, the two defendants admitted to taking the victims to China to sell. Defendant Trang said that she had been tricked and sold to China. While living there, she colluded with the subject at home to find girls with the purpose of taking them to China to sell. The defendant admitted that because of greed, she went from being a victim to a perpetrator of human trafficking.

In this case, the defendant Trang claimed that she only benefited 6 million VND. The reason was that after X. left, her first husband sought her out to demand her money back. Therefore, the defendant had to pay that man 550,000 yuan. When X. was sold to the third buyer, her second husband sought Trang out to demand her money back. The defendant Trang claimed that she had to pay that person 40,000 yuan.

The accomplice in the case, the defendant Ha shed tears many times, showing remorse for his actions. The defendant admitted that he and the victim's family had a family relationship. However, because of greed for money, the defendant tricked X's mother into finding a job as requested. After that, the defendant colluded with Trang to take the victim across the border to sell. This defendant stated that he only took X to China, but the fact that the victim was sold as a wife many times over there, the defendant did not know.

Vi Thi Ha expressed remorse for her mistake. Before the trial, the defendant had influenced the family to compensate the victim 6 million VND for mental damage. Right at the trial, the defendant's husband continued to compensate the victim 5 million VND. Thus, the court recorded that the defendant Ha had compensated the victim 11 million VND. The defendant Trang had influenced the family to compensate the victim 3 million VND.

A high price to pay

Attending the trial, the victim requested the two defendants to compensate for mental damage of 100 million VND. Also through the trial, the battered life of the mountain girl was recreated, making many people feel sorry.

According to relatives, X. was adopted by Mrs. Phong and her husband when she was a baby. Because Mrs. Phong and her husband were infertile, they devoted all their love to their adopted daughter. After her daughter dropped out of school, she asked relatives to help her find a job. But the mother did not expect that she had been deceived by her relatives.

After their daughter was taken abroad, they had no news of her. Because she did not know the Kinh language and her circumstances were difficult, the couple had no means to look for her. Only later did she learn about her daughter, but she was helpless. It was not until a child protection organization rescued her and brought her back to her family that they learned of the hardships her daughter had endured after more than 5 years of being tricked and sold to China.

According to the victim, when she was sold to her first husband, she was very shocked because she was still young. The language barrier made her life even more difficult. In that situation, she was forced to learn the local language to be able to communicate and live.

But after a period of trying, because she was bored with her life of being confined and living with an unloving husband, X. left. After that, she was sold to her second husband. But like the first time, she had to endure the confinement of her husband and his family. Living alone in a foreign land made her even more depressed, so X. decided to run away. However, the vicious cycle repeated itself when she was sold by another woman to be the wife of a third man.

Being sold as a wife three times in more than five years was truly humiliating for a young girl. Only when she was rescued and reunited with her family did X. calm down. After that, she filed a complaint with the police against those who sold her.

After experiencing humiliating days in a foreign land, as Ms. X shared, the lucky thing for her was that she did not have children. Therefore, when she returned home, she did not have to worry like many other women, having to be away from her children when returning. She is currently working in a northern province.

This girl confided that she wanted to go to work to earn money to support herself and forget her painful past. Through the trial, she also wanted to warn many other girls to be careful when looking for a job, especially with promises of easy work and high salaries abroad.

As for those who committed the act of buying and selling children, after considering the role of each defendant in the case, the panel sentenced Vi Thi Ha to 10 years in prison, and defendant Lo Thi Ha Trang to 5 years in prison. Regarding the civil part, the court ordered the two defendants to jointly be responsible for compensating the victim 100 million VND (subtracted from the amount already compensated).

The trial ended, X. hurriedly went to the court corridor to get her luggage to catch a bus to the North to work. In the middle of the large court yard, in the pouring rain, the image of a young girl busily dragging her luggage to continue making a living made many people feel sorry.

Hopefully, after the events, she will find peace and continue her life journey, even though there are many difficulties ahead...