The couple who abused Van An were tried.

Nguyen Vo Quynh Trang, 26 years old, was tried by the Family and Juvenile Court (HCMC People's Court) for the crimes ofMurder, TortureAccording to Articles 123 and 140 of the Penal Code; the highest combined penalty is death.

Thai (Van An's father) was accused ofTorture othersandConcealing a criminalAccording to Article 389; the total maximum penalty is 8 years in prison.

To serve the people to follow the trial, the court set up a theater and installed a large screen, but limited the number of people allowed inside the court yard to about 200-300. Hundreds of police officers from many forces were mobilized and many iron fences were set up to ensure security from the gate to the court yard. People attending the trial had to show their papers or be issued cards in advance.

The trial is expected to last until noon, chaired by Judge Nguyen Van Tuan, Deputy Chief of the Family and Juvenile Court. Attending the proceedings are four lawyers defending the victims and three lawyers defending the defendants. The court also summoned experts and five witnesses.

The court set up a theater for people to watch the trial. Photo: Hai Duyen

According to the indictment, in 2020, Thai divorced, raised Van An and lived with Trang as husband and wife in the Sai Gon Pearl apartment building (Binh Thanh district). Because Thai's parents did not agree to let him marry Trang, and Thai did not want to have more children, Trang was always jealous and angry. Therefore, from October 2021, during the time Thai assigned her to take care of Van An (who was studying online at home), Trang repeatedly beat her lover's stepchild.

Authorities determined that from December 7 to 22, 2021, Trang repeatedly used a rattan cane and a wooden stick to beat An. Once, she did not let An wear clothes, forced him to kneel, and raised his arms high for her to beat; locked him in a dog cage or forced him to kneel to study for hours. Thai did not stop her, but instead, together with his lover, scolded and beat the child with a stick.

Late at night on December 10, 2021 until after 2:00 a.m. the next morning, the couple took turns torturing and hitting the girl's vital areas. On December 22, 2021, from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Trang continuously beat An with a wooden stick, kicked her... causing the victim to lose consciousness and then die.

When he learned that Trang had beaten An to death, Thai deleted all the camera data in the apartment to cover up for his lover. Both admitted to the entire act of torturing An but claimed that "beating An made her behave better and study better". However, the investigation results showed that the child was a good student, well-behaved, and polite to teachers.

Nguyen Vo Quynh Trang in court in July. Photo:Dinh Van

In July, the first time the trial took place, thousands of people stood outside the courthouse to watch. When Trang and Thai were brought in, they shouted in protest at the defendants' crimes; some people asked the jury to "punish them with the death penalty."

At this trial, the panel of judges accepted the request of lawyer Tran Thi Ngoc Nu (defending the victim's family) to return the case file for further investigation, determine the rate of disability and injury of Van An from December 7 to 22, 2021 to determine Thai as an accomplice.Killing.

However, during the additional investigation, the Criminal Science Institute - Ministry of Public Security refused to conduct an examination because Van An's medical records at Vinmec Hospital did not show the injuries caused on the above dates. Therefore, the investigation agency and the People's Procuracy maintained their prosecution stance against Trang and Thai.