Late happiness of a mountain girl who was tricked and sold to a foreign land by a local man

In the hot days of June, Luong Thi O. (born in 1995), residing in Keng Du commune, Ky Son district, took a bus with her 2-month-old baby to Vinh city with her young husband to attend the trial of human trafficking and child trafficking in which she was one of the two victims. In this case, besides O., there was another victim, Pit Thi X. (born in 2001).

Traveling a long way to court with her parents, the child looked very smart. Taking advantage of the time when the court was not in session, O. found a secluded corner to breastfeed her child before handing him over to her husband to enter the courtroom. O. honestly said: “This is my second husband. My first husband was Chinese. I was tricked into being sold as a wife by the young men in the village.”

It was around mid-2015 when O. and X. were invited by Moong Van Nhi (born in 1995) and Luong Van Nhi (born in 1995) who lived in the same village to go to the South to work as factory workers with a salary of 2.5 million VND/month. Fearing that they would be tricked and sold to China, the two girls refused. However, after two men named Nhi promised to go with them to the company, O. and X. agreed.

Defendants at trial. Photo: Tran Vu

On September 16, 2015, the subjects took two girls across the border to China. At that time, O. was only 20 years old and X. was 14 years old. On that journey, there was also the help of Cut Van Hoi (born in 1977, residing in Pha Danh commune, Ky Son district) and Moong Thi Mau (living in China, Hoi's cousin).

After arriving in China, the two girls were sold as wives to two men in Han Tan province. At this time, both of them realized that they were being tricked but had to accept it because they knew they had no other choice. Accepting to marry a strange man without any feelings for him made the married life of X. and O. always suffocating. Moreover, being confined by her husband's family and forced to work in the fields with hard labor made the two young girls depressed and frustrated, so both of them always wanted to find a way to return to Vietnam.

During her time living with her husband in China, O. gave birth to two children. X. also gave birth twice, but unfortunately one child died, leaving the young woman with a constant sadness in her heart. After three years of being sold to a foreign country, at the end of 2018, X. and O. connected and set a date to escape. On the journey back to their birthplace, both agreed to leave their children in a foreign country. Until now, O.'s longing for her children is still constant. Because when she decided to escape, O.'s second child was only 7 months old. "I miss my children so much, but I have to endure it," O. confided when asked about her children.

O. has a new marriage with a husband younger than her. Photo: Tran Vu

After returning to Vietnam, the two girls filed a complaint with the police about the subjects’ human trafficking. Based on the victims’ complaints, the authorities arrested Moong Van Nhi, Luong Van Nhi and Cut Van Hoi to investigate the acts of “Human trafficking” and “Child trafficking”. As for Moong Thi Mau, because she is in China, the authorities have not been able to handle her case.

At court, the two defendants Luong Van Nhi and Moong Van Nhi testified that they were discussed by the Association about finding women to sell. They both knew that it was an illegal act, so they initially refused. However, after being persuaded by the Association, and because they were greedy, they agreed to participate in human trafficking and child trafficking. In this case, each defendant benefited from 6 million VND. Meanwhile, defendant Hoi testified that he was told by his cousin Mau who returned to Vietnam from China to find women to sell across the border, so he did so. By selling the two girls to a foreign country, defendant Hoi pocketed 33 million VND.

Attending the trial as victims, X. and O. requested the court to deal strictly with the defendants. Both said that because of the defendants, the children's lives were dark and they lived in humiliation in a foreign land.

At the end of the trial, the panel sentenced Cut Van Hoi to 17 years in prison for the two crimes of "Human trafficking" and "Child trafficking"; the two defendants Luong Van Nhi and Moong Van Nhi were each sentenced to 15 years in prison for the two crimes. The court also ordered the defendants to jointly compensate each victim 30 million VND. Although they did not agree with the civil compensation, O. and X. said they would not appeal. Because for the victims, after a long time of living in hardship in a foreign land, now both just want to spend time with their families.

As soon as the court session ended, O. hurriedly ran out to the hallway to pick up her young child from her young husband. O. shared: Although my husband is 3 years younger than me, he is quite considerate and loves his wife and children. That is more than enough for me. Even though he knows my past, he still accepts it. My husband's tolerance is the motivation for me to try to live well and raise my children to be good people./.