The tragedy of a poor mother whose son is convicted of murder
Her husband died, she had to be both father and mother to raise 3 children. But then, her youngest son committed a terrible crime. The day she accompanied her son to court, she had to apologize to the victim’s family and beg the jury to let her get her old bicycle back. Because to her, it was her biggest asset.
Revenge and hatred just because of a look
Nearly a year has passed but the Nguyen Duy case On (26 years old), residing in Hau Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, used scissors to stab Nguyen VT (born in 1985) in the eye, causing the victim to die after nearly 2 months of treatment, which still makes many people feel sorry. At the trial, many relatives of the defendant and the victim were present in the courtroom.
The cold-blooded slash of the young man not only caused pain to the victim's family but also made the defendant's mother miserable because her child was guilty of "Murder". On was the youngest child in a family of 3 siblings. Because of his unusual personality, this young man only finished secondary school and then stayed at home. At the age of 26, On caused a shocking incident when he used scissors to take the life of his relative.
According to the indictment, around mid-February 2024, Ms. Nguyen Thi D. (a relative) came to On's house to visit and the two sides had a conflict. When On went down to the kitchen to get a knife to cut meat, Ms. D. thought the young man was using the knife to slash her, so she called her husband. After his wife's call for help, Mr. Nguyen VT went over and punched On in the face and chest.
It seemed like everything would end there, but On kept carrying the hatred of being beaten in his heart. He had the intention of revenge, so he took scissors and went to Mr. T's house twice. When he discovered that someone had come to visit his neighbor's house, On returned.
At about 8:00 p.m. on May 25, 2024, On took sharp scissors and cycled to Mr. T's house and saw the homeowner lying on a folding chair using his phone. On greeted "boss" and then used the scissors to stab Mr. T in the eye. Suddenly stabbed, Mr. T exclaimed "my eye is gone".
Afterwards, the victim was taken to many central hospitals by his relatives for emergency treatment. However, due to severe injuries and infection, on July 20, 2024, the victim died of respiratory failure and circulatory failure due to a penetrating eyeball wound, skull fracture causing cerebral edema and cerebral hemorrhage.
As for the perpetrator, after stabbing the person, he immediately fled but was arrested by the police. The authorities conducted a psychiatric assessment of On and concluded: Before, during and after committing the crime, On suffered from mental and behavioral disorders due to the use of hallucinogenic substances, a form of psychosis.
In response to the jury’s question about why he committed the crime against the victim, the defendant said he was upset that Ms. D. came to his house to visit but kept staring at him. “Other than looking, did she do anything else to you?”, in response to the court’s question, the defendant answered no, but said that the victim’s wife’s looking at him made him uncomfortable.
After that, Ms. D. called her husband and was punched by the victim, making the defendant always want to take revenge. After 2 failed attempts to take revenge, the defendant decided to take action the 3rd time.
The defendant apologized to the victim’s family and explained that he was sick, which led to his inappropriate behavior and inability to control his actions. The defendant explained that his family was poor, his mother was sick, and he was still young and wanted a chance to start his life over, get married, and take care of his mother.
Poor mother asked for her old bicycle back
The victim’s wife, who came to court, could not help but grieve when recalling her husband’s death. After the defendant attacked her, she and her relatives took Mr. T. to many large hospitals for treatment for nearly 2 months. Despite spending money and effort to treat her husband, in the end, the woman was helpless.
The pain was even greater for her. The woman choked up as she recounted that before the incident, her husband worked as a motorbike repairman. The job provided him with income to support the family. He was the breadwinner, but now she and her children had lost that support. She requested the defendant to compensate her 3.5 billion VND for expenses such as hospital treatment, funeral expenses, mental damage and child support according to the law.
Sitting quietly in court, the defendant’s mother repeatedly explained that her son and herself were sick. Both mother and son were sick, so the family’s finances depended on her married son. “My husband passed away, my son and I are sick, so now the extended family is living in an old house with nothing of value. I know my son’s crime is serious, but I hope the victim will forgive me and reduce the amount of compensation requested,” the 53-year-old mother explained.
She also asked the jury to consider returning to her the bicycle that On used to go to the victim’s house on the day of the crime. “That bicycle is my biggest asset, I ask the court to let me have that bicycle back so I can have a means of transportation. My family’s situation is very difficult, my husband has passed away, and I am constantly sick,” she stated.
Hearing his mother's pleas, On turned his head to look. The courtroom was silent before the misfortune of two women, one had to suffer the loss of her husband, the other was the difficult family situation of the defendant's mother.
The trial ended late at noon with a 17-year prison sentence for defendant Nguyen Duy On. In the civil case, the court ordered the defendant to compensate the victim’s representative more than 1.3 billion VND. The court also ordered the defendant’s old bicycle to be returned to his mother because she did not know about her son’s crime.
