Humiliating memories of a jobless woman

Falling into the trap of "thirst" for work

More than 7 years ago, according to Hoa Thi May (the victim's name has been changed), born in 1996, residing in Ta Ca commune (Ky Son), although the couple had children, their life often had conflicts. Bored with family matters, May came up with the idea of ​​taking her young child to Vinh city to find a job. This woman simply thought of going to the city and then thinking about it.

At the same time, May was introduced by a woman named Xon to work for a company in Vinh city. The reason this person invited May to go was because she had previously been asked by Le Thi Ngoc (born in 1988), residing in Ta Ca commune (Ky Son) to find people to work for the company. But Xon herself did not know that this was a premeditated plot by Ngoc and her accomplices. Because before that, Ngoc had colluded with her cousin Kha Thi Van (born in 1982), residing in Nga My commune, Tuong Duong district and Lo Van Cau (born in 1981), residing in Xieng My commune, Tuong Duong district, to discuss finding women to send to China to sell for money.

The victim who attended the trial recounted her life after being trafficked to a foreign country. Photo: Tran Vu

“Because at that time my husband and I had some conflicts and were bored, I took my baby, a few months old, and followed Ngoc. After a while, Cau picked us up and took us to another car. Because I was carsick, I was tired and just slept soundly, not knowing where they were taking me. After a few days in the car, I realized that I had been taken to China,” May recounted her story of being trafficked to a foreign country in May 2016.

Returning to the content of the case, after May was taken to China, Kha Thi Van (who was married and living there) picked her up and brought her to her house. A month later, Van asked someone to sell May to a Chinese man to marry for 190 million VND. This man gave Van more than 31 million VND. In this case, Van benefited 1.5 million VND, Ngoc benefited 11 million VND, Cau benefited 10 million VND, and Xon pocketed 9 million VND.

The human trafficking of the subjects was only exposed when the victim took her child and fled back to Vietnam. On March 9, 2022, after about 10 months of returning to Vietnam, May filed a complaint against the subjects for human trafficking to the authorities. Knowing that his actions had been exposed, the next day Lo Van Cau went to the Nam Can International Border Post to confess his crime. Not long after, the two subjects Le Thi Ngoc and Kha Thi Van were also arrested by the authorities and prosecuted for the crime of "Human trafficking”.

Days of humiliation

At the trial of the three defendants Le Thi Ngoc, Kha Thi Van, and Lo Van Cau on January 13, 2023 for the crime of "Human trafficking", the victim recounted her humiliating days in a foreign land. May shared that she cried her eyes out when she learned that she was taken to China. Panicked, May asked the subjects to take her back to her country, but was forced to pay a ransom. If she did not have the money, she had to contact her relatives in Vietnam to send money. Because of her difficult circumstances and fear of the subjects' threatening eyes and words, May nodded in agreement.

Because she had a small child with her, at first May was made difficult by her “husband’s family” in China. However, she was determined to protect her young child. Because of this, May was treated badly by her husband and his family. Not only was she spoken to harshly and beaten, but she was also kept under strict house arrest by her husband’s family. The victim said that for a long time she lived in humiliation and always had the intention of escaping back to Vietnam.

Being alone in a foreign land made her hardships and suffering even greater. Especially when she was taking care of her sick child all by herself. May had to save every penny to raise her child and save money for the travel expenses to escape back to Vietnam.

After a long time of silently enduring, in May 2021, May successfully escaped back to Vietnam with her nearly 6-year-old child. Returning home after a long time of being sold, the relationship between May and her first husband was not very warm. Therefore, they went their separate ways. May shared that she is currently leaving her child with her parents to go to the North to work as a factory worker to earn a living. The victim of the human trafficking case also said that she now has a new love. Although that person knows about her past, he has accepted and opened his heart to love her.

3 defendants at the trial. Photo: Tran Vu

In court, the defendants admitted their crimes and expressed their sincerity and remorse for their human trafficking. After the incident was discovered, the defendants persuaded the victims’ families to compensate them for their mental damage. Therefore, the victims asked for a reduced sentence for the defendants during the trial.

Among the defendants, Lo Van Cau used to be a deputy village chief and a police officer. Cau has many achievements during his work, confirmed by the Commune Police and the People's Committee of Xieng My Commune. Accordingly, from 2019 to 2022, Cau participated in solving many cases such as arresting 10 subjects in 8 drug cases, 7 subjects in property theft cases. At the same time, Cau arrested many subjects for drug rehabilitation according to the decision of the District People's Court; conducted mediation at the grassroots level in many cases... With many mitigating circumstances as above, the Trial Panel sentenced defendant Lo Van Cau to 3 years and 6 months in prison.

After considering the role of each defendant, the People's Court sentenced Kha Thi Van to 5 years in prison and Le Thi Ngoc to 4 years in prison for human trafficking. In civil matters, the court ordered the 3 defendants to jointly compensate the victim 80 million VND. In this case, there is also Xon, because from the beginning he did not know that Ms. May was taken to China, so there is no basis for consideration and handling.

The trial ended, May quietly left the court to continue working in the North. Thus, after a long time of being tricked and sold to a foreign country, living a miserable life, May was finally reunited with her family. Hopefully, love and a new job will help May forget her painful past and start a new, more peaceful and happy life. Hopefully, other women will see this as a lesson for themselves so that they will not be tricked and sold like May.