The price to pay for burning down one's own house.
(Baonghean.vn) -On the morning of June 28th, the People's Court of Quynh Luu district held a public trial for Ho Duc Tung (1971) on the charge of "Destruction of property," sentencing Tung to 12 months in prison and ordering him to compensate Ms. Ngan with over 21 million VND.
According to the indictment of the Quỳnh Lưu District People's Procuracy, at approximately 8 PM on April 19, 2013, Tùng was home alone in Hamlet 5 (Quỳnh Tam Commune, Quỳnh Lưu District). Angered by the fact that his wife, Bùi Thị Ngân, had filed for divorce with the Quỳnh Lưu District People's Court, Tùng entered the main house, a three-room tiled-roof structure, piled up his belongings in the middle of the house, and set them on fire.
Not stopping there, Tung continued running down to the side house, also piling items in front of the plywood cabinet and using a gas lighter to set them on fire. In an instant, the flames erupted fiercely. Tung ran out into the garden and sat down, while nearby residents rushed to put out the fire and called the police.
The police force of Quynh Tam commune promptly arrived and, together with local residents, extinguished the fire and secured the scene. Subsequently, the Criminal Investigation Department of Quynh Luu district police conducted a scene investigation, determining the property damage to be 42,500,000 VND.
At 9 PM the same day, Tung surrendered to the Quynh Tam commune police, confessing to his crime. The investigation determined that the property Tung destroyed was jointly owned by him and Ms. Ngan. Ms. Ngan is entitled to half of the property that Tung destroyed.
Tung was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Immediately after this trial concluded, the Quỳnh Lưu District People's Court continued with the divorce trial between Tùng and his wife. At the trial, Ms. Ngân tearfully told us: “For over 10 years of marriage, he was constantly drunk and irresponsible, drinking and then sleeping without doing any work. When I tried to reason with him, he would resort to physical violence. Now that we're divorcing, all three children will stay with me; none of them will acknowledge their father.”
Unable to control himself and spending years addicted to alcohol, Tung lost his wife, his children, all his possessions, and even his citizenship rights.
Nguyen Phe
