Couple in Nghe An sentenced to 16 years in prison for selling 14-year-old mountain girl to China

On the afternoon of September 30, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendants Cut Thi Huong (born 1985) and Cut Van Thoai (born 1981), both residing in Chieu Luu commune, Ky Son district, for the crime of "Buying and selling children".

Previously, in February 2016, Chich Thi D. (born 2002), residing in Chieu Luu commune, came to Huong and asked, "Do you know anyone who takes people to China?". After verifying that D. really wanted to go to China to get married, Huong called her husband's sister, Cut Thi Thanh, to inform her. Although she knew D. was young, Thanh still agreed to take her to China, promising, "When she gets married, I will pay you 40,000 yuan."

Two defendants at trial. Photo: Tran Vu

Huong discussed this matter with her husband Thoai. They both agreed on a plan to send D. to a foreign country to receive 5,000 yuan as a salary as Thanh had promised.

A few days later, the couple met D. at the entrance of Luu Hoa village, Chieu Luu commune, then went down to Vinh city, took a bus to Mong Cai (Quang Ninh). When arriving in Mong Cai, Huong called Thanh to inform them that they had arrived. Thanh then picked them up. About an hour later, a man came to take Huong and D. by boat across the river to China.

After 10 days at Thanh's house, this woman sold D. to a Chinese man for a price that Huong did not know. Thanh gave Huong 45 thousand yuan (equivalent to 136 million VND).

Upon returning home, Huong gave 120 million VND to D's mother. The remaining amount was for personal expenses. After 3 years of marriage and living in China, Chich Thi D. returned to Vietnam and filed a complaint against the couple Cut Thi Huong and Cut Van Thoai.

In court, the two defendants admitted to their crimes. Both said they agreed because D. asked them to take them to China. The panel of judges determined that in this case, the victim was also partly at fault for taking the initiative to ask D. to take her to China to get married.

Considering the case in its entirety, the court sentenced Cut Thi Huong to 10 years in prison and Cut Van Thoai to 6 years in prison for “Trafficking in children”. Because the defendant’s children are still young, the court allowed Thoai to be released on bail, return to his locality to take care of his children, and be under the management of the locality. When the sentence is to be executed, the authorities will make a decision later.