A crazy love and 3 funerals

A tragic love story

More than 13 years have passed, but when mentioning the above case, people in Tuong Son commune (Anh Son) cannot help but feel heartbroken. Just from a young love affair, it has left an inconsolable pain for parents and families.

Failing the junior high school graduation exam, Nguyen Thi Hien (born in 1993), residing in Tuong Son commune, Anh Son district, stayed home to help her mother with farm work. Kind, hard-working and at the most beautiful age of a girl, Hien was also noticed by many young men in the village. After a period of getting to know each other, Hien chose a suitable man, Phan Van Ngoc (born in 1989), who lived in the same commune. After being in love for more than a year, Hien and Ngoc also intended to be together forever, but because Hien was not old enough to get married, they could not do it.

In 2010, Phan Van Ngoc decided to go to Saigon to work and earn some money to get married. Carrying the promises of his first love, Ngoc packed up and went to the South, Hien stayed home to help his mother. During the time apart, the relationship between the young couple had many problems and conflicts, leading to the fading of their feelings. Hien called Ngoc many times to talk about breaking up, but Ngoc did not agree. When it got tense, Ngoc threatened many times that if Hien broke up, Ngoc would kill them both. Hien thought it was just a threat made in anger by her lover, so she still decided to break up with Ngoc.

The blind jealousy of young love led to a tragic ending that no one wanted. Illustration photo

On July 22, 2010, Ngoc unexpectedly returned to her hometown and heard rumors from her friends that Hien had a new boyfriend. Too angry, on the evening of July 27, Ngoc went to Hien's house to have a "three-sided talk" with her lover, also hoping to rekindle their relationship with Hien, but was met with indifference and annoyance from Hien. Neither of them would give in, the young couple argued very tensely for quite a while in front of the house. Too frustrated, Hien went inside to lie down, not talking to Ngoc anymore even though Ngoc called her several times.

While angry with jealousy, Ngoc saw Mr. Bui Xuan D. (born in 1982), also living in Anh Son district, driving into the yard. Before she could ask, Ngoc ran up and stabbed Mr. D. 3 times in a row, 2 of which hit his heart, causing Mr. D. to collapse and die on the spot. Hearing the noise in the yard, Ms. Hien ran out and saw Mr. D. lying in a pool of blood, she panicked and called for help. Unexpectedly, Hien was murdered by Ngoc with 13 consecutive stabs...

Hearing her child's screams, Hien's mother, Tran Thi Tuyet, ran out of the house to call for help from the neighbors. Ngoc also slashed her four times, causing serious injuries. Despite being injured, Tuyet still tried to run to the neighbor's house to call for help and then collapsed.

After committing the crime, Phan Van Ngoc calmly drove home, bought a large roll of tape, a piece of cloth, and ran to the backyard. He called his brother and sister and said, “I have killed two people, I am going to die.” Then he put tape over his mouth and hung himself from a tree.

Upon receiving the news, Tuong Son Commune Police mobilized dozens of police officers to search for the culprit. More than an hour later, the police force heard the phone ringing on the hill and discovered the place where Ngoc had died by hanging himself.

And the pain never goes away

When asked about the heartbreaking story, the pain of losing children, grandchildren, and brothers was evident on the faces of the victims' family members.

Hien is the youngest in a family of 4 siblings, 3 of whom have been working in the South for several years now. Hien's father passed away more than 6 years before the incident due to an accident, so only the mother and daughter are left at home to take care of each other. The life of the mother and daughter is still peaceful in the poor countryside, Hien still dreams of the day she will be dressed in a wedding dress and celebrate her wedding.

And perhaps that dream would have come true if the tragic incident had not happened. People who witnessed the story all felt sorry for the young girl who died so young.

According to her uncle, the day Hien was laid to rest was attended by only relatives, neighbors, and friends of the same age. Hien's siblings lived far away and could not return in time to see him off. The mother who lost her child was still being treated at Nghe An General Hospital, and it was unclear whether she was alive or dead.

Ms. Nguyen TT, Hien's mother and witness to the incident, still remembers the story of that day clearly: "It was so brutal, when Ngoc heard Hien cry for help, he rushed in and stabbed her repeatedly, blood flowing everywhere. Ms. Tuyet, who was watching TV with me, ran out and was also stabbed repeatedly. My son and I were so scared that we just sat there, unable to scream. It was so terrifying, so cruel."

The time of the crime was only a few days before Hien’s third sister’s wedding. The night of the murder was also the time when Mrs. Tran Thi Tuyet booked a ticket to prepare to take a bus to the South to attend her daughter’s wedding. The joy of her daughter had not yet been complete when the disaster of losing her child befell her family…

The family of the victim Bui Xuan D. also shares the pain of losing their son. It is known that at the time of the murder, Mr. Bui Xuan D. had just returned from working in Malaysia. D. is the third son in the family, and his parents invested money to learn phone repair. Mr. D. planned to open a small phone repair shop on the land his grandfather gave him. Everything was ready, just waiting for the goods to arrive to open. However, the incident happened so suddenly that the dream ended, only the pain of losing a child and grandchild will remain with the family forever.

On the night of the incident, Mr. D. went to attend a friend's wedding in the commune and drove up to invite Hien to go with him for fun, but he did not expect that it would be his fateful day. D.'s death doubled the pain for his family members, because a few years before, Mr. D.'s eldest brother also died in an accident in Vung Tau. The pain of losing their first child had not yet subsided when Mr. Tho's family suffered the pain of losing another son, and they no longer had enough tears to cry.

The murderer or the victim is now at rest, the pain of loss does not give the relatives enough time to blame and hate each other.blind jealousyof young love has led to a tragic ending that no one wants. This is also a lesson for the young generation when choosing love, awareness, and behavior in love to avoid causing unfortunate consequences. We must know how to control our ego to have appropriate behavior, avoid falling into a state of outburst that causes unpredictable consequences for others as well as for ourselves.

Time will heal everything, but the pain of losing children, grandchildren, and siblings like this will never go away?