The ending after a decade of searching for the adopted daughter of a kind man in the highlands of Nghe An

In Huu Kiem commune, Ky Son district, Luong Thi L. (born in 2000) has had a difficult life since childhood. Her father was often sick, so the family's life was miserable. Her mother also left home and crossed the border to China. Feeling sorry for the child's fate, Cut Van Thuong (born in 1970) adopted L.

Although they were not related by blood, he always gave his little daughter all his love. L. was given the opportunity to go to school by Mr. Thuong and his wife like their own daughter. Until one day at the end of May 2009, after returning from the farm, he could not find his adopted daughter anywhere. Worried, this man hurriedly searched for his daughter. Whenever he heard news from somewhere, he quickly took a bus to meet her. He also printed many pictures of his daughter to post all over the bus station and border gate area, but all in vain.

Frustrated, he returned home, but he did not stop searching for news about his daughter and wherever he found information about his daughter, he arranged his work to go find her. Until April 1, 2019, he was surprised to see his adopted daughter return home in the flesh after a long time missing.

Seeing his lost child again after 10 years made him cry with joy. When she “went missing”, his daughter was only an 8-year-old girl in 3rd grade, but when she returned, she had become an 18-year-old girl. It was just that having to struggle in life early and living a miserable life in a foreign land made her look older than her age.

Two defendants at trial. Photo: Tran Vu

Reunited with her adoptive father's family, she recounted the entire process of being sold and married to a foreigner since she was 8 years old.

According to the girl, at the end of August 2009, while visiting a classmate's house, she met her friend's father named Moong Van Long (born in 1973). Knowing that L.'s mother had been in China for a long time, Long asked, "Do you want to go to China to see your mother?". Believing it was true, the girl agreed. Late that night, Long drove her by motorbike to Khe Tang bridge, in Chieu Luu commune, and then handed her over to a woman (later identified as Lin Thi Tuyen (born in 1977), residing in Chieu Luu commune). This woman then took the child to China through an illegal route. In the foreign country, the girl was handed over to another woman before being sold to a local man to marry.

Being married at the age of 8 caused her to suffer a lot. Not only was she beaten, she was also forced to do hard labor and was strictly controlled by her husband's family. Many times she wanted to escape, but because she did not know the language and had no money, she had to stay. However, she always hoped to escape from this place to reunite with her family. Her wish was later supported by some fellow countrymen. When she knew her way, she decided to escape back to Vietnam, ending the days of humiliation and suffering in a foreign land.

After hearing his daughter’s story, Mr. Thuong went to the police to report the incident. Lin Thi Tuyen and Moong Van Long were arrested shortly afterwards to investigate the crime of Child Trafficking. According to the investigation agency, at the time of being sold to a foreign country, Luong Thi L. was only 8 years, 9 months and 24 days old.

The first instance trial of the two defendants Lin Thi Tuyen and Moong Van Long for the crime of “Trafficking in children” took place at the People’s Court of Nghe An province on a day at the end of October. At the trial, the two defendants admitted to all the crimes as charged in the indictment. Both stated that because of greed, they tried to sell the child to a foreign country even though they knew that L. was “still young”.

Mr. Cut Van Thuong recounts his 10-year journey to find his son. Photo: Tran Vu

Defendant Tuyên confessed that when he went to China, he contacted a woman named Ly. This woman paid Tuyên 25 million VND and promised to give him another 10 million VND when he finished selling the person. After returning to Vietnam, Tuyên gave Long 20 million VND and spent 5 million VND on personal expenses.

At the trial, because Luong Thi L. was working far away and was not present in the locality, Mr. Thuong was the legal representative for the victim. This father recounted his difficult journey to find his daughter. “Having been sold at a young age, my daughter suffered a mental breakdown when she first came home. The family had to encourage and comfort her so that she could forget the pain and start her life over. Fortunately, because she had not had children with the man in China, she was not bound by anything,” he said.

After living in the area for a while, his daughter asked her family's permission to go to work and earn money. Although he loved his daughter, because of the need to make a living and wanting L. to have some income, Mr. Thuong and his wife had to agree. Currently, L. is working as a worker for a company in Hai Phong. Every day, he calls, asks about her, and encourages her to stay away from the sweet talk of scammers.

As for the two defendants charged with “Trafficking in children”, Lin Thi Tuyen and Moong Van Long were sentenced to 11 years in prison. In addition, the court ordered the two defendants to compensate the victim 80 million VND.