The 'heavy-hearted' husband's cowardly revenge on his wife

Hellish Marriage

It has been nearly a year since the incident happened, but Ms. Nguyen Thi L (47 years old, residing in Nhan Son commune, Do Luong district) is still haunted every time she recalls it. Although her health is now stable, when thinking back to the time waiting for the test, Ms. L still cannot help but shudder.

Nguyen Ba Ba thought of injecting HIV-infected blood into his ex-wife's body to take revenge. Photo: archive

Ms. Nguyen Thi L. and Mr. Nguyen Ba Ba (48 years old, residing in Nhan Son commune, Do Luong district, Nghe An) originally lived in the same neighborhood and grew up together. Because they understood each other's personalities, they gradually developed feelings for each other. After a period of getting to know each other, Ms. L. and Mr. Ba decided to live together.

After being married for a while, the couple decided to move to the South to start a business. The marriage that started from love was not happy for long, when the husband gradually revealed his abusive nature, especially when after being married for a long time, Ms. L. could not get pregnant or give birth.

The couple went to the doctor, the cause was determined to be Ba. Perhaps, because of his inferiority complex and helplessness, he became more irritable and easily angered with his wife. There was a time when Ba beat his wife "to the point of death" causing Ms. L. to have to rent a house to live outside, but Ba found her and forced her to come back.

"There were times when Ba beat his wife to the point of being hospitalized. L. was so scared that she left to rent a room outside. Ba found her and threatened to force her to come back. Many times the family advised her to break up, but for some reason, L. kept hesitating," the sister-in-law said.

Two years ago, unable to bear the physical and mental torment of her husband, Ms. L. returned to her hometown and stayed at her brother's house. After a while, Nguyen Ba Ba also returned, went to his brother-in-law's house to cause trouble and force his wife to return. But this time, Ms. L. decided to end this hellish marriage.

Ms. L.'s divorce petition was accepted by the court even though her husband did not agree. Many times, Ba went to his brother-in-law's house to curse, threaten and beg his wife to reconcile, but to no avail.

Early in the morning of March 17, 2022, Ms. L. had to leave the house without knowing that her ex-husband was secretly following her. Suddenly, the sound of a motorbike engine roared, approaching the motorbike, Ms. L. felt a sharp pain in her butt. Trying not to fall off the motorbike, she turned around and was shocked to see her ex-husband Nguyen Ba Ba even though he had disguised himself quite well. In his hand was a syringe...

Haunted by the previous threats, Ms. L. endured the pain and sped away. When she reached a crowded area, she pulled over, called for help, and fainted.

The wound from the needle was not too serious, but the fear caused her psychological trauma and she was unconscious for more than a day and a night before waking up.

Ms. Dung - the victim's sister-in-law said: "The wound was only on soft tissue, not too worrying, but we were afraid that there was something in Ba's syringe. After asking a close relative to inquire, we were shocked to hear that the syringe contained the blood of an HIV-infected person"...

Revenge because of… heavy love

Ms. L. was immediately transferred to a central hospital to receive anti-exposure medication. The three months of waiting for the results were also three months of living in anxiety and confusion. The hellish marriage she had just tried to escape from now haunted this woman like a ghost every night.

Nguyen Ba Ba confessed that he only wanted to "rekindle old love" with his wife but failed. Hearing rumors that Ms. L. had a new lover, Ba was furious and had the idea of ​​revenge. He thought of a way to inject the HIV virus into his ex-wife, which would make life worse than death...

Defendant Nguyen Ba Ba at the trial. Photo: Truong Thi Duyen

Ba Ba went to see an acquaintance who was being treated for HIV. Ba made up a story about knowing an ethnic person currently living in Ho Chi Minh City who could cure this disease. However, a blood test would be needed to know specifically the possibility of a cure as well as the treatment time. Because of his acquaintance, Ba would help the man receive the patient's blood, instead of going there to get blood, which would cost a lot of money for travel and accommodation. Ba also made an appointment for this person to get blood early in the morning to send it in on time. Thinking it was real, this person was grateful and immediately agreed because he thought there was still a chance to cure the disease and promised to get blood early tomorrow to bring it to Ba.

The next morning, with a vial of HIV-infected blood in hand, Nguyen Ba Ba injected it into a syringe, changed his shirt, put on a mask, removed his mirrors and license plate to act. He thought that by disguising himself so well, "no ghosts or demons would know". However, the trauma of 20 years of abuse made Ms. L. recognize her ex-husband just by looking into his eyes.

After approaching his ex-wife and ramming the syringe into her buttocks, Ba chased after her, intending to inject all the HIV-infected blood into her, but Ms. L. ran away, shouting, afraid of being discovered, so he turned the car around and escaped. However, the investigation agency did not have much difficulty determining the criminal behavior of this man. Nguyen Ba Ba turned himself in the next day.

Although the disability rate due to the wound caused to Ms. L. was only 8% of her health, Ba's actions were enough to constitute the crime of "Intentionally transmitting HIV to others".

Nguyen Ba Ba's trial took place on September 28, 2022. Ms. Nguyen Thi L. was not present at the trial but authorized another person to legally represent her.

Before the trial, Ms. L. submitted a petition to reduce Ba's sentence. Although she almost had to suffer from the disease of the century due to her husband's vicious revenge, he was still her husband after all, and even though the relationship was over, there was still love...

At the trial, Nguyen Ba Ba confessed his crime. The defendant also said that he was too attached to his ex-wife, so when he heard the rumor that Ms. L. had a new lover, he became jealous and could not control his emotions.

Considering the defendant's criminal behavior, the People's Court sentenced defendant Nguyen Ba Ba to 38 months in prison for the crime of intentionalHIV transmissionfor others, forced to compensate the victim for mental and health damage of 13 million VND.