He beat his nephew to death for disobeying him.

On May 26, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Lo Van Kham (born 1980), residing in Phuc Son commune, Anh Son district, for the crime of "Murder".

Kham and the victim, Vi Van B. (born in 1974), are related (B. calls Kham "uncle"). While drinking with his uncle on the evening of October 25, 2021, Kham reminded B.drink alcoholWhen he finished, he went home to sleep and did not wander around. When he was reminded, Mr. B. cursed and said, "Who are you to lecture me?" His words made Kham angry.

Defendant Lo Van Kham was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Photo: Tran Vu

Late on the evening of October 28, 2021, after visiting relatives in the hospital, Kham and B. returned to Kham's house for dinner. About 30 minutes later, seeing B. leaving but going in the opposite direction of home, Kham pulled out a piece of bamboo tube stuck in the ground and followed him with the intention of telling his nephew to go home and sleep. If B. insulted Kham like last time, he would beat him.

When Kham told B. to go home, his nephew cursed and challenged him to fight. Angry, Kham took a stick and hit his nephew on the head. Being hit, B. said, "Are you really going to hit me?" and ran away. At this time, Kham also threw away the stick and went into the house.

A moment later, Kham heard Mr. B's cry for help so he ran out. Through the flashlight, he saw the child lying in the stream. Kham carried the child home, bathed him, and changed his clothes. At 4 a.m. the next morning, seeing the child unconscious, Kham asked a relative to come and check and discovered that Mr. B had died.

The cause of death was determined to be a fractured skull, brain hemorrhage, and broken ribs. At noon that same day, the police ordered Lo Van Kham to be detained in an emergency.

At the trial, the defendant admitted to the crime as charged in the indictment. The defendant stated that he had taught his nephew a lesson because he was disobedient and did not intend to kill him. The victim's representative who attended the trial asked for a reduced sentence for the defendant.

The panel of judges determined that in this case the defendant had many mitigating circumstances such as honest confession, repentance, actively supporting the victim’s family in the funeral, being an ethnic minority, and having limited legal awareness. In this case the defendant had no aggravating circumstances.

Considering the case as a whole, the People's Court sentenced Lo Van Kham to 15 years in prison for murder.