Two sisters were jailed for trafficking women across the border.

Two sisters human trafficking

The trial of defendant Lu Thi Khuon (born in 1975), residing in Huu Kiem commune, Ky Son district, for the crime of “Human trafficking” took place on a day in early December. Khuon, a small figure, stood huddled before the witness stand. Every now and then, the female defendant turned her head to look for her relatives, but there were only empty rows of benches, with no one in attendance.

Lu Thi Khuon is the sixth child in a family of eight siblings. As an ethnic minority, Khuon was not able to go to school due to difficult circumstances. As a result, this woman is illiterate. Every day, Khuon works with her parents and siblings on the fields to make a living.

Growing up, Khuon listened to some people and decided to go to China to find a new life. After a while, Khuon married a local man. While living here, Khuon met a woman from Nghe An named Tien (unknown identity and background) who was married to a Chinese man. This person asked Khuon to find women to sell in China, promising to split the profits. The attractive offer from the woman from her hometown made Khuon think a lot.

In early October 2015, Khuon returned home to mourn his mother. During that time, this woman asked her younger sister, Lu Thi Mai (born in 1978, residing in Huu Kiem commune, Ky Son district) to find women to take to China to marry. Khuon told her clearly: "If I find a young woman, I will pay you 40 million VND, and if she is old and ugly, I will pay 30 million VND." Hearing her sister's invitation, Mai nodded in agreement.

About 20 days later, when meeting Ven Van Thao (born in 1992, residing in Huu Lap commune, Ky Son district), Mai invited this young man to find women to sell, promising to pay 5 million VND for the work. Greedy, Thao agreed to find women to sell to China.

At the end of October 2015, Ms. Mong Thi D. (born in 1978, residing in Huu Lap commune) came to Thao's house and said she wanted to go to China to find a job. At this time, Thao immediately had the idea of ​​tricking and selling Ms. D.

Ven Van Thao then called Mai to inform her that he had found his "prey" and made an appointment to pick her up tomorrow afternoon.

The next afternoon, when meeting Ms. D., Thao said she had to walk through the forest because she was afraid they would find out if she rode a motorbike. Ms. D. agreed to pack her clothes and walk with Thao to the Xop Thap intersection in Huu Lap commune, where she met Mai. At this time, Lu Thi Mai met Thao privately and promised to send her money when D. got married.

Upon arriving home, Mai immediately informed her sister that she had found someone but that he was “a bit old”. At this time, Khuon encouraged her sister to “rest assured, when they get married I will give them 30 million VND”.

After that, Ms. D. was taken by Khuon to China by bus. In the foreign country, Khuon contacted Tien to pick up Ms. D. and take her home. Nearly a month later, Tien sold Ms. D. to a Chinese man to marry.

When the human trafficking operation was successful, Lu Thi Khuon went to Tien to ask for her salary and was paid 6 million VND. However, when Mai came back to her hometown to see her sister, Khuon said she did not have the money for the human trafficking. Afterwards, Khuon returned to China to continue living with her husband.

As for the victim, after being sold, she had to go through difficult days in a foreign land with much bitterness and humiliation. Living a miserable life, she always had the intention of escaping back to her country. In early March 2019, taking advantage of a loophole from her husband's family, she escaped back to Vietnam and filed a complaint against the subjects to the police.

Based on the victim's complaint, Lu Thi Mai and Ven Van Thao were arrested. At the trial of these two defendants in early November 2019, both admitted to their crimes but stated that they had not received any payment. The panel sentenced Mai and Thao to 3 years in prison each for "Human trafficking".

As for Lu Thi Khuon, the police issued a wanted notice for her because she was on the run. On August 22, 2024, Khuon was arrested.

Confession of a Fugitive

In the witness stand, the defendant admitted to the crime as charged in the indictment. The defendant stated that because he listened to the enticement of a woman named Tien, he returned to Vietnam and invited his younger sister to help him find women to sell. The defendant stated that he had benefited from the case by 6 million VND, but when the case was discovered, he had compensated the victim 13 million VND.

At this point, a judge reminded the defendant that it was impossible to sell a woman as a commodity, no matter the price, because that was an illegal and immoral act. Hearing this, the defendant bowed his head and remained silent.

Regarding the escape from arrest, the defendant stated that after selling the victim, he returned to Vietnam several times. After that, he returned to China to live with his husband and children. Some time later, he heard that his sister and Thao had been arrested by the police in his hometown for "Human trafficking". Because of fear, he went into hiding there. For a long time, he lived in a state of anxiety and panic, not knowing when he would be arrested by the police; he did not have the courage to return to Vietnam to surrender until he was arrested by Nghe An police.

The female defendant expressed remorse for her crime. She stated that her actions not only got her into trouble with the law but also dragged her younger sister into prison. Her circumstances were difficult, her husband and children were across the border and could not visit her. She was an ethnic minority and had not been to school, so her legal awareness was limited. The female defendant hoped to receive leniency from the law.

The panel of judges determined that the defendant's criminal acts were serious, directly infringing on the freedom, honor, and dignity of citizens protected by law, negatively affecting the customs, traditions, and traditions of Vietnamese women, causing bad public opinion, affecting the local security and order situation, and causing anxiety among the masses.

The defendant herself is a healthy person, clearly aware that her actions were wrong, but for personal gain, she disregarded the law. Therefore, a severe sentence is needed, isolating the defendant from society for a certain period of time to match the nature, extent, and consequences of the defendant's criminal acts. Considering the case as a whole, the panel sentenced Lu Thi Khuon to 5 years in prison for the crime of "Human trafficking".

The verdict is the right person, the right crime, once again a warning to those who still intend to commit human trafficking, sooner or later they will have to pay the price. It also reminds people to be vigilant, to be alert, not to be lured and taken advantage of by human traffickers.