Sentenced to prison for beating her aunt's husband, causing brain injury and broken ribs

On May 28, the People's Court of Nghe An province held an appeal trial for the case of "Intentionally causing injury" against the defendant Dao Van Dung (born 1972), residing in Phong Thinh commune, Thanh Chuong district. Sitting in the victim's chair was Mr. Hoang Viet Hong (born 1959), residing in Phong Thinh commune, Thanh Chuong district, the defendant's uncle.

Defendant Dao Van Dung in the appeal hearing. Photo: An Quynh

This is a special case, because the incident occurred in 2012, but it was not until 5 years later that the victim went to the police to report the criminal case. In 2016, the nephew continuously argued with his uncle, cursing and threatening to kill him if he ever mentioned the old story again. Frustrated, on July 27, 2017, the uncle filed a lawsuit to seek justice.

According to the investigation as well as the defendant's and victim's statements, on September 9, 2012, Dao Van Dung was at home when he saw his uncle, his aunt's husband, passing by and invited him: "Uncle Hong, come up to my house for a drink." Because he had work to do, Mr. Hong did not answer and continued walking.

Dung, unable to invite anyone to drink, drove to his father's house to visit. On the way home, Dung saw his aunt herding buffalo with a bruised face. Immediately, Dung suspected that his uncle had drunk and beaten his aunt, so he angrily went to Mr. Hong to "ask her about it".

When he arrived at the village cultural house, Dung saw Mr. Hong walking alone, so he got out of the car, picked up a branch from the roadside and chased after him. When he caught up with Mr. Hong, Dung asked: "Why did you hit my aunt?" Without waiting for Mr. Hong to answer, Dung kicked his uncle in the right side of his stomach, causing him to fall face down, then continuously used a stick to hit Mr. Hong, causing him to fall to the street and lose consciousness.

Seeing that, Dao Van Dung immediately returned to the cultural house to get his motorbike and meet Le Van Yen (living in the same commune of Phong Thinh, Thanh Chuong district). Dung immediately said to Yen: "Come help me, take Mr. Hong to the hospital", because he did not understand what was happening, Yen could only agree and then both of them took Mr. Hong to Cat Ngan Regional General Clinic (Phong Thinh commune, Thanh Chuong district). But because the injury was too severe, the family had to transfer him to Nghe An General Hospital for treatment.

According to the injury assessment, Mr. Hong suffered a traumatic brain injury, a fracture of the temporal bone of the skull, leaving him with mild paralysis on the right side of his body, and a broken rib. The total health damage rate was up to 44%.

At the first instance verdict, the Thanh Chuong District People’s Court sentenced the defendant Dao Van Dung to 5 years in prison. At the same time, the defendant was ordered to pay compensation of more than 158 million VND. The defendant wrote an appeal asking for a reduction in sentence.

At the appeal hearing, the panel of judges determined that the Thanh Chuong District People's Court had correctly judged the defendant Dao Van Dung for the crime of "Intentionally causing injury". However, based on the injury assessment as well as the testimony of both parties, the first instance court's verdict had many inaccuracies. The appeal court decided to accept the defendant's appeal, sentenced Dao Van Dung to 3 years in prison for the crime of "Intentionally causing injury", and ordered the defendant to compensate the victim 58 million VND.