The tearful life of a woman sold to a brothel, her accomplice robbed her of her property

Sold to brothel at age 14

Trial of the defendantTran Thi Tan(born in 1981), residing in Vo Liet commune, Thanh Chuong district, for the crime of “Robbery” became special. Especially when at this trial, the source of the crime as well as the life of the female defendant was clarified. Anger, sorrow, and sympathy were probably the common emotions of the audience.

At the age of 8, Tan lost his mother. Not long after, his father remarried. But according to Tan, the life of a "stepmother and stepchild" caused Tan and her sisters many misfortunes. At the age of 14, Tan was invited by a woman in the village to work for hire. Not knowing much, and wanting to earn money to help her family, Tan agreed without realizing that the tragedy of her life would begin here.

Tan was tricked by bad people and sold into a brothel in China. “They let me serve customers for the first 3 months. After that, because of my limited beauty, the brothel owner sent me to the kitchen to do cleaning, cooking, and serving about 40 people there,” Tan said about his life when he was sold into the brothel.

Subject Tran Thi Tan when arrested. Photo: document

With no money, no language skills and strict control, Tan accepted to live a lonely life in a foreign land for 10 years. Many times, Tan thought of running away but then stopped. In the summer of 2004, an old couple with no children felt compassion when they saw Tan struggling to carry water and do laundry every day, so they paid to ransom Tan from that house. Being helped by good people, Tan was both happy and sad and considered them as his relatives.

From that day on, Tan considered the couple as her parents. Every day, she went to the market to sell fruits, and helped her adoptive mother take care of her father when he had a stroke. It was also her grandparents who connected and helped her contact her family in Vietnam. In 2005, for the first time after nearly 10 years of wandering, she returned to her birthplace, to meet her parents and younger brother. However, the pressure of life and many problems made Tan decide to leave and go to China to do business and live.

In a foreign land, Tan chose to carry goods for traders through the border gate. The work was hard, but Tan always tried because she wanted to earn money to send back to her sick father in her hometown. As for her adoptive father in China, due to old age, he passed away. Before closing his eyes, the adoptive father decided to give her an apartment so she could "live on her own". Tan said that she could never repay the kindness of her adoptive parents in her entire life. It was just a pity that she did not know how to appreciate that peaceful life after many storms, so today she had to sit here and pay the price for her sins.

The mystery behind the robbery

In front of the witness stand, Tan cried continuously, admitting that his actions were wrong. According to the defendant's testimony, Tan knew a Chinese man named Dam Trieu Nong (born in 1962, residing in Guizhou province). Therefore, when this man asked him to take him to Vietnam to buy buffalo, cows, and wood to bring back to his country to make a profit, Tan agreed. Before going to Vietnam, Nong invited his fellow countryman Ha My Cuong to go with him.

Thank you letter from Mr. Ha My Cuong to Nghe An Provincial Police. Photo: Document

On September 25, 2019, this group of 3 peopleillegal border crossingto Vietnam. Not long after, Tan received a phone call from his cousin Nguyen Dang Hao (born in 1991, residing in Ngoc Son commune, Thanh Chuong district, living in Binh Duong) asking to borrow money because he lost all his money gambling. Knowing that his cousin was naughty and played the lottery, Tan refused to lend him money.

But when he learned that Tan was taking two Chinese people back to the country to buy buffalo and cows, Hao asked: "Can you take their money?" Tan refused, Hao said "let me take care of everything" and asked Tan to provide the identification of the two foreigners. Tan did not stop his cousin's intention to rob his property, but only told him to "go easy".

After that, Hao directed Nguyen Thinh Thi (born in 1991, residing in Ngoc Son commune, living in Hanoi) to intercept two Chinese people near the People's Committee of Ngoc Son commune, Thanh Chuong district to rob money. At 2:00 a.m. on September 27, when Tan and two Chinese people had just gotten off the bus, a stranger suddenly rushed in, hit them in the head, sprayed pepper spray in their faces, and robbed them of 57,000 yuan (equivalent to 182 million VND). The next day, Tan received 10 million VND from Hao and Thi.

On September 27, 2019, Tran Thi Tan led two Chinese men to report to the Ngoc Son Commune Police Department about being robbed. During the investigation, the police identified the perpetrator of the robbery as Nguyen Thinh Thi. Further investigation into the case, investigators found that Tan was not the one who helped the two foreigners report the crime but was actually an accomplice in this robbery.

At this point, Tan bowed his head and admitted that he knew about the incident, decided to surrender and pay 8 million VND to the investigation agency. At the same time, he called Thi and Hao to surrender but they refused. After that, Hao also proactively sent 130 million VND to relatives to pay the victim and then fled with Thi (currently being wanted).

Defendant Tran Thi Tan cried, regretting her crime. Photo: Tran Vu

Explaining the reason for the crime, the defendant cried and said: I did it only because of my cousin's persuasion. I am very remorseful for my crime. Tan asked the court to consider a lenient sentence so that he can return soon to take care of his orphaned nephew with no one to depend on (Tan's younger brother is currently serving a life sentence for drug-related crimes, leaving behind a young child - PV).

The presiding judge determined that in this case, Tran Thi Tan played the role of a secondary accomplice due to her limited awareness of the law. The defendant herself was a victim of being sold into a brothel and experienced many changes in her life. During the investigation and trial, the defendant always confessed honestly, repented, and partially remedied the consequences... Therefore, there was sufficient basis to consider sentencing the defendant to a sentence below the penalty frame proposed by the representative of the People's Procuracy (the Procuracy proposed from 8 to 10 years in prison). Considering the case as a whole, the panel sentenced Tran Thi Tan to 5 years in prison for the crime of robbery.

Receiving a sentence lower than the prosecutor's request, Tan clasped her hands and thanked the jury in tears. The female defendant promised to reform herself so that she could soon return to raise her grandchild and make a living by doing honest work./.