Father-in-law and daughter-in-law 'join forces' in buying and selling children.
(Baonghean.vn) - Luong Thi Tam brought two children from Vietnam to China. Later, Tam's father-in-law sold the two victims to two local men to be their wives.
On December 16th, the People's Court of Nghe An province held a first-instance criminal trial to hear the case against Luong Thi Tam (born in 1988), residing in Chieu Luu commune, Ky Son district, for the crime of "Trafficking in children".
According to the case file, around April 2012, Luong Thi Tam was in China when she received a phone call from her husband in Vietnam, Lo Van Uyen, asking if she would arrange for women to marry in China. Tam agreed.
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Defendant Luong Thi Tam. Photo: Tran Vu |
About a month later, Uyen informed Tam that she had found two girls and asked Tam to return to Vietnam to pick them up. To avoid detection, Tam and Uyen agreed to meet the girls in Vinh City.
At Vinh bus station, Tam and Uyen picked up Cut Thi L. (born in 1997) and Lo Thi M. (born in 1998), who were brought there by Lo Van Cho (residing in Ky Son district, an acquaintance of Lo Van Uyen). Tam and Cho then took the two girls to Mong Cai City. Afterwards, Cho returned, while Tam alone took the two girls across the border into China.
Later, Tâm's Chinese father-in-law sold M. and L. to two Chinese men as wives for 210 million VND and approximately 245 million VND respectively.
Tam received 60,000 yuan (equivalent to 210 million VND) and a mobile phone from her father-in-law. Tam claimed she sent 105 million VND of this money to her husband, Uyen, in Vietnam.
Regarding the victims, M. escaped back to Vietnam in 2013. As for L., in November 2018, she asked her husband for permission to return to Vietnam to visit her family.
On May 10, 2022, knowing that Tam had returned to Vietnam, M. and L. filed a complaint with the police. The investigating agency determined that at the time of being sold, Cụt Thị M. was only 14 years, 1 month, and 20 days old, and Cụt Thị L. was 14 years, 9 months, and 27 days old.
At the trial, the defendant sincerely confessed to the crime. She stated that her only role was to transport the people across the border, while the sale of the victims was handled by her father-in-law in China.
The panel of judges determined that the defendant's actions violated the law, trampled on the dignity, and robbed the victims of their youth. However, mitigating circumstances such as honest confession, remorse, being a member of an ethnic minority group, and the victims' requests for leniency should also be considered.
After a comprehensive review of the case, the court sentenced Luong Thi Tam to 7 years in prison. The defendant Lo Van Uyen has since passed away. As for Lo Van Cho, since he was not present in the locality, the investigating agency is continuing its investigation, and he will be dealt with later when his identity is verified.
