The downfall of the 22-year-old 'mine mother' who sold her best friend to China

La Thi Hien (born 1994) is the youngest of three children in Chau Khe commune, Con Cuong district. In 2012, Hien gave birth to her first child when she was just 18 years old. Not having a stable job while the economy was in difficulty made life miserable. Therefore, Hien decided to leave her young child behind to go to China to seek her “luck”.

In a foreign country, Hien married a Chinese man named Phang Chi Lung. After living there for a while, knowing that there was a high demand for wives among men here, Hien came up with the idea of ​​finding “prey” to sell to China. To carry out that idea, Hien immediately thought of his friends back home.

Defendant La Thi Hien. Photo: Tran Vu

In November 2016, through social networks, Hien contacted Ms. La Thi Th. (born in 1992, residing in Chau Khe commune). After a few questions, Hien talked about a prosperous life if she married a Chinese man, which attracted her friend's attention. Ms. Th. was in a difficult situation at the time, with no money to raise her children, so she paid more attention to Hien's story. Hien whispered to her friend that if she married a Chinese man, she would have a better life and a loving husband.

From Hien's sweet words, her friend asked her to help find a good man to marry in China. Once they agreed, Hien told Th. to take a bus to Mong Cai (Quang Ninh) and someone would pick her up. At this time, because Th. said she had no money, Hien asked her relatives to lend her 1 million VND for travel expenses.

Ms. Th. then traveled a long way from the village to Vinh City, then to the northern provinces. When Ms. Th. arrived in Mong Cai, Hien hired a woman from China to come to Vietnam to take Th. for 2,000 yuan (NDT). Then, Hien and her Chinese husband took Ms. Th. home. After 15 days, Hien sold Ms. Th. to a local man for 70,000 yuan (equivalent to 240 million VND). Then, Hien gave Th. 30,000 yuan, pocketing the rest. However, Ms. Th. left 15,000 yuan for Hien to keep for her.

After living in China for a while, in June 2019, Ms. La Thi Th. returned to Vietnam and decided to file a complaint with the police. La Thi Hien was arrested for investigation of human trafficking. At that time, because she was pregnant, Hien was released on bail.

Attending the recent court session, Hien brought along her baby, just a few months old. This is the baby with her husband, born in 1989, after Hien returned to Vietnam from China. Accompanying Hien that day were a few relatives. During the entire time waiting for the court to come to session, Hien held her baby, just a few months old, with eyes full of anxiety. Every time the baby cried, Hien comforted him and breastfed him. The husband sat next to her, occasionally watching the baby for his wife.

When the court was in session, Hien quickly handed her child to a relative and went to the witness stand. The defendant admitted to all her crimes. Hien said she helped her friend because her friend asked her to “find a good husband”. The defendant admitted that she knew what she was doing was illegal, but because she was greedy, she ignored it. La Thi Hien asked for a lighter sentence because her children are still young.

Attending the trial as the victim, Ms. La Thi Th. also asked the court to reduce the sentence for the defendant. The victim asked Hien to return the 50 million VND that she had asked the defendant to hold for her when she was first sold. Talking about her miserable life in a foreign country, Ms. Th. said that she was sold to a man named Chang Cha Cha. The language barrier and cultural differences often caused conflicts in her married life. She tried to escape back to Vietnam many times but was unsuccessful due to strict management. Until one day in mid-2019, taking advantage of her husband's family's negligence, Ms. Th. escaped back to Vietnam, ending her humiliating days in a foreign country.

The panel of judges determined that the defendant’s human trafficking was particularly dangerous to society. However, in this case, the victim was also partly at fault because she agreed to go to China to get married. The victim filed a petition for a reduced sentence for the defendant. Considering the case as a whole, the court sentenced La Thi Hien to 5 years in prison and ordered her to pay the victim 50 million VND in compensation.

The court ended, Hien immediately went to the back to pick up her baby from a relative. As soon as she saw her mother, the baby cried loudly and sobbed.

Because she is on bail, this woman will return to her hometown, waiting for the day to serve her sentence./.