Couple sentenced to 10 years in prison for selling children to China as wives
(Baonghean.vn) - Greedy for ill-gotten gains, Khay and Thanh colluded to trick and sell two girls to foreign countries to get married. It was not until 7 years later that their crimes were exposed through a complaint from the victim. On the day of their court appearance, both cried and expressed remorse.
One day in mid-2019, the people of Nga My commune, Tuong Duong district were abuzz with the news that a young girl named Luong Thi Ng. (born in 1997) had returned home after 7 years of “disappearance”. This girl was rescued from China by the Blue Dragon organization in collaboration with Nghe An police and then returned to her family.
That day, many relatives and villagers came to Ng's house to ask about her health, encourage her spirit and congratulate the family. The happiest people that day were probably Mr. and Mrs. Luong Van Thiu when after many years of waiting, they found their daughter.
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| The two defendants Thanh and Khay in court. Photo: Tran Vu |
After the joy of reuniting with her family, Luong Thi Ng. filed a complaint against the people who had tricked and sold her and her friend Ngan Thi P. (born 1998) to China.
According to the victim's report, because they believed in the promise of a "good job" in China, Ng. and her friend P. agreed to go abroad. On July 4, 2012, both were handed over by Luong Thi Khay (born in 1983, residing in Yen Hoa commune, Tuong Duong district) and Lo Thi Thanh (born in 1987, residing in Nga My commune, Tuong Duong) to Vi Thi Hue (born in 1969), residing in Xieng My commune, Tuong Duong district, currently married in China) to take them to Han Tan, Khua Be (China).
In a foreign country, Hue sold two girls to Chinese men as wives for a total of 120,000 yuan (about 380 million VND). Hue then transferred 100 million VND to Khay. From the above amount, Khay gave 30 million VND to Ng's father and 30 million VND to P's mother. The remaining 20 million VND each for Khay and Thanh in this business deal.
Speaking of the two victims, after 5 years of being a wife in a foreign country, on April 14, 2017, Ngan Thi P. escaped back to Vietnam. On June 4, 2019, Nghe An police coordinated with the Blue Dragon organization to rescue Luong Thi Ng. back to Vietnam. Ng. then filed a complaint against the two subjects for human trafficking to the police. Based on the victim's testimony, the investigation agency summoned and arrested the two subjects who bought and sold children. The police determined that the two victims were just over 14 years old at the time of being sold.
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| Defendant Lo Thi Thanh expressed remorse for her actions. Photo: Tran Vu |
At the recent trial of the two defendants Luong Thi Khay and Lo Thi Thanh for the crime of “Trafficking in children”, both defendants admitted to committing the crime as charged in the indictment. Before the witness stand, Khay cried, saying that he did not expect that his act of sending people to China would be dealt with so severely by the law.
“The defendant is very remorseful for his actions. He promises never to repeat the offense again,” Khay told the court. The defendant also cited his difficult circumstances, currently raising a young child, to ask the court to consider and reduce his sentence. As for defendant Lo Thi Thanh, she said that the two victims had proactively asked her to find jobs. When the defendant informed them that they were going to China, the two children agreed and informed their families before leaving the country.
Because the two victims did not attend the trial, the presiding judge announced the statements of Ng. and P. According to the information announced by the presiding judge in court, because they believed that Lo Thi Thanh was the wife of their teacher, when the matter of going to China to work was mentioned, the two children agreed.
However, when they arrived in a foreign country, they discovered that they had been sold as wives. The marriage was not based on love, and the language and customs differences caused frequent conflicts in family life. Furthermore, the tight control of the husband's family made them both want to return to Vietnam.
In 2017, P. fled back to Vietnam. At this time, because P.'s father had previously pledged not to report to the police after receiving an additional 27 million VND from Khay, the victim did not report to the police. The two subjects' crimes were only exposed in 2019 when Ng. was rescued by the Blue Dragon organization in coordination with the police.
The panel of judges determined that the two defendants’ act of sending people to China was a violation of the law. The fact that the defendants sold the child when he was only 14 years old must be dealt with even more severely. Considering the case as a whole, the court sentenced Luong Thi Khay and Lo Thi Thanh to 10 years in prison each for “trafficking in children”.
Because he was raising a small child, Khay was released on bail and returned to his hometown to await the day of execution. Thanh was escorted back to the detention center. Thanh's steps became heavier when the burden behind her was her small, lonely children in her hometown. It is known that Thanh's husband is no longer a teacher but works in the fields.
