The sad memories of a girl who was tricked and sold into marriage at the age of 13

Tears of the Day of Return

Although she has been back in the country for nearly a year, when Luong Thi Lua, a resident of Keng Du commune (Ky Son), recalls the memory of being tricked and sold to China, her eyes fill with tears. Lua was a victim of the gang.child traffickingThe defendants Lu Van Chuong (24 years old), residing in Huu Kiem commune (Ky Son) and Luong Van Son (26 years old), residing in Keng Du commune (Ky Son) have just been brought to trial by the People's Court of Nghe An province.

Also appearing in court with these two defendants were Luong Pho The (43 years old), residing in Keng Du commune, prosecuted for the crime of "Extortion of property" and defendant Lo Van Phay (36 years old), residing in Keng Du commune, prosecuted for the crime of "Failure to report a crime".

In the hallway of the courtroom, Lụa's eyes welled up with tears as she recalled the humiliating time. She said: Although her parents always created conditions for her to go to school, because of her poor family background, she decided to drop out before finishing secondary school. Her hometown is in the mountains, so finding a job was difficult. Therefore, around mid-2015, when she saw two sisters in the village being taken by a man to Binh Duong to work, she immediately asked to go.

The victim talks about life in a foreign land and the journey to escape back home. Photo: Tran Vu

“At that time, I thought my sisters were really going to the South, so I eagerly followed them. I didn’t dare tell my family because I was afraid my parents would stop me. That day, after many hours on the bus, the three of us were taken to a strange village by a man. It was only when I saw the Chinese writing that I suspected I had been tricked. At that time, I begged them to let me return to Vietnam but they refused,” Lua recounted the story of her being tricked and sold.

After being sold by human traffickers, Lua had to marry a man in Beijing. At just over 13 years old, when her peers were innocently going to school, Lua was sold and forced to marry a man she did not know. “At first, I was in crisis because I missed my parents and my hometown. But because I did not know how to return, I had to endure. My husband did not beat me, but I did not feel happy. The fact that my mother-in-law kept me under strict house arrest and restricted my going out made me depressed,” Lua said.

Lua’s frustration was like the last straw when her mother-in-law refused to let her take care of her child. Lua said: “My mother-in-law took my child home as soon as he was born. She also refused to breastfeed my child. My husband, because he listened to his mother, just kept quiet. Even though I loved my child very much, I didn’t know what to do.”

Frustrated, around mid-2019, Lụa decided to escape back to Vietnam. “I was lucky to have a Vietnamese person working there to help me. But about 2 days after I escaped from my husband’s house, I was arrested by the local police. Because I was a foreigner who entered the country illegally, I was locked up for several months. That period of time was terrible for me, I was depressed because I didn’t know what my future would be,” the girl recounted.

After being detained, Lụa was deported from the country by the local police. After returning to Vietnam, Lụa was quarantined to prevent and fight the Covid-19 epidemic for about 2 weeks. One day in early 2020, Lụa was able to return home. To this day, Lụa still cannot forget the moment she was reunited with her family. “That day, I just hugged my parents and siblings and cried with joy and sadness. Because after nearly 4 years of being tricked and sold, I thought I would never see my family again, but I was still lucky enough to be able to return home,” Lụa choked up as she recalled the day of reunion.

Denounce the crimes of human traffickers

After that, this girl filed a complaint against the subjects for child trafficking. During the investigation, the police arrested Lu Van Chuong and Luong Van Son for "Child trafficking". It was Chuong who invited Son to find young girls to take to China for a woman named Tien to sell. To get the girls to agree, the two tricked them into going to the South to work as factory workers.

During the process of sending people abroad, Phay discovered the incident but did not report it to the police. Therefore, Phay was prosecuted for "Failure to report a crime". As for Luong Pho The, after being asked by the victims' families to find their children, he met Chuong to get 180 million VND (the money Chuong had sold the 3 girls for) to return to the victims' families. However, Chuong only gave each family 30 million VND, the rest he spent. The also demanded that the 3 families give him 5 million VND as payment. Not only that, 1 month later, The also met Chuong to demand another 30 million VND or he would report it to the police. With the above behavior, The was prosecuted for "Extortion of property".

The defendants received different sentences. Photo: Tran Vu

At the trial, the defendants admitted to their crimes. Considering the role of each defendant in the “Human trafficking” case, the panel sentenced Lu Van Chuong to 11 years in prison and Luong Van Son to 8 years in prison. For the crime of “Extortion of property”, defendant Luong Pho The was sentenced to 6 years in prison. Defendant Lo Van Phay received a 6-month prison sentence but was given a suspended sentence for the crime of “Failure to report a crime”.

Lua agreed with the court’s verdict against the defendants. The victim said that after returning to Vietnam, she is currently working at a company in Bac Ninh. “I am still young so I do not want to think about marriage and children yet. I want to work to save some capital before thinking about the future,” Lua shared about her plans. Regarding the two other victims who were also trafficked, Lua said that she has not been able to contact them yet. This female victim hopes that the victims who were trafficked with her will soon return to Vietnam.

The victim's name has been changed.