When the rice boils, add more heat...

At the end of December 2023, the People's Court of Nghe An province brought the murder case against Trinh Xuan Tuyen (born 1982), residing in Thanh Phong commune, Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An to the first instance trial. Tuyen's victim was his wife, 5 years younger than her husband.

Wife challenged, husband swung knife

Tuyền and Th. (born in 1987) have a fairly peaceful marriage with 3 small children, the oldest in 9th grade, the youngest in 1st grade. The couple works hard, plowing and harvesting on the fields that their grandparents gave them, enough to make ends meet. At night, Tuyền and his wife take lamps to the fields, catch eels and crabs to sell to raise money to send their children to school. Life would have passed peacefully like that if it weren't for the incident that happened in the early evening of June 14, 2023.

At around 6:30 p.m. on June 14, the nephew came to the house to ask about going to a relative's death anniversary. Th. said, "Ask your uncle," while Tuyen said, "If you feel like it, then go. I'm tired, so don't go," leading to an argument between the couple. Tuyen went to her father's house (in front of Tuyen's house), Th. followed, and the couple continued to argue. Tuyen complained of a headache and told his wife to shut up and go home, otherwise, "I'll bury my face in that house." Instead of keeping quiet, the wife "retorted," telling her husband to do whatever he could, and not to threaten him.

The quarrel between husband and wifeThe fight continued when they got home. Tuyen held a knife and told his wife, "Shut up, I have a headache, I'll kill you," but his wife still talked nonsense. The three children saw their father holding a knife and speaking loudly, so they were scared and cried loudly. The children's cries calmed Tuyen down. He put the knife on the table and went to the kitchen to smoke. His wife brought up the old story and spoke loudly, making Tuyen angry. He ran upstairs, took a knife, and chased his wife out of the house, "If you don't want me to kill you." The nephew came to the house and saw this, immediately hugged his uncle to stop him. At this time, Tuyen's wife had run to the gate but still turned back, challenging him, "If you can kill me, then kill me."

Breaking free from his nephew's grip, Tuyen ran to the gate and caught up with his wife. The cruel knife in Tuyen's hand stabbed his wife in the stomach. Like a bloodthirsty beast, despite Th.'s resistance, Tuyen stabbed his wife repeatedly until the knife fell from his hand. At this time, his nephew also caught up, kicked the knife away, hugged Tuyen and pushed her into the house. Th. was taken to the emergency room with many wounds on her stomach, chest, back, arms, legs...

Realizing his actions, Trinh Xuan Tuyen went to the police station to confess. With the wound caused by Tuyen stabbing her in the chest and lower abdomen, Ms. Th. was determined to have suffered 84% health damage. If this wound was not treated promptly, it could have caused death, therefore, Trinh Xuan Tuyen's actions constituted the crime of "Murder".

Late regret for both husband and wife

The trial proceeded quickly because the defendant confessed his crime. Throughout the trial, Tuyen repeatedly looked at his wife and children, as if he wanted to say something but stopped. The husband expressed remorse for his lack of restraint, which had caused irreparable physical harm to his wife. Tuyen said that recently he had been having headaches, chest pain, and difficulty breathing, leading to irritability. However, this man delayed going to the doctor or getting treatment because he was afraid of spending money.

The defendant hopes that the Trial Council will consider and reduce his sentence so that he can return home soon, compensate his wife, and support his children's education.

In the victim’s row, Ms. Th. kept her head down as she listened to her husband recount the events of the case. Tears streamed down the face of the wife who had gone through a life-and-death battle to save her life. She did not blame her husband but took responsibility for the incident.

“If I hadn’t said those challenging words, this wouldn’t have happened…”, the wife burst into tears. There is a saying “when the husband is angry, the wife should say less, when the rice is boiling, reduce the heat, and you will never burn it”, but she added more firewood and fanned the fire into the pot of rice that was almost done, so today the family is broken up and divided.

After the incident, her husband's family rallied together, paid for her hospital bills, medicine, took care of her during her hospital stay, and worried about her three children during their absence. She hoped the jury would reduce her husband's sentence. The serious injury had severely affected her ability to work, making it difficult for her to support the education of her three children...

The heartfelt words of his wife, the sobbing of his three children present in court as people with related rights and obligations, were like salt rubbed into Tuyen's heart. The children had not yet grown up but their faces had lost much of their innocence, when their father went to jail, their mother was sick, and their studies were uncertain whether they could continue or had to stop halfway. Perhaps, facing his wife and children in this situation, more than ever, Tuyen realized the price he had to pay for his impatience and lack of self-control...

While the court was in deliberation, Ms. Th. encouraged her children to talk to their father. The distance between Tuyen and her children was only over 2 meters, but the gap seemed to widen after their father stabbed their mother. The three children did not say anything, nor did they look at their father, only tears fell down their chubby cheeks, flowing down their necks. Tuyen stared at her children, not knowing what to say. "Dad is trying to reform himself so he can come back to you soon," Ms. Th. said to her husband, then tried to find a story to break this awkward atmosphere. "I was going to cook you chicken porridge, but I heard you couldn't bring it in, so I gave up," the wife said. Tuyen just nodded...

12 years in prison is the sentence the first instance trial panel gave for Trinh Xuan Tuyen's crime. Hopefully, the harsh but humane sentence of the law will help Tuyen and his wife mend their family...