Male student 'risks his life' to get money to gamble
The first time he won 80 million VND from online cockfighting, an 11th grade male student continued to play and lost everything, had to "put his life on the line" for nearly 600 million VND, so a group of people came to his house to demand the money back.
On July 8, Long An Provincial Police said they had directed Duc Hoa District Police to investigate the case of an 11th grade male student at Vo Van Tan High School (Duc Hoa town) who was lured by a group of people to play online cockfighting and lost nearly 600 million VND. The gambling den where the male student owed money was administratively fined 7.5 million VND.
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| A group of masked young men drove to the boy's mother's house and demanded 50 million VND. Photo: Provided by the family. |
The 16-year-old male student said that in mid-June, some strange men invited him to an online cockfighting venue in Duc Hoa Ha commune. The first time he played, he won 80 million VND, so he spent 20 million VND on shopping.
At noon on June 14, after school, the male student wore his uniform and rode his motorbike to continue gambling but lost all his money. The group of people he was playing with suggested he "take his life and get the money back" so the male student followed suit and lost a total of 520 million VND.
Threatened by this group, the male student returned home and broke into his family's safe to take money and gold worth 350 million VND to pay back. Because he still owed money, he went to another location about 10 km away and continued to "betray" himself to get money from cockfighting to recover, but lost another 50 million VND.
A week later, four young men in a car, wearing masks, came to find Ms. Dang Thi Ngoc Linh (41 years old, the boy’s mother) and demanded 50 million VND. Ms. Linh explained her difficult circumstances and asked for a debt extension. Out of fear, the boy dropped out of school and ran away from home.
During the second semester exam, he went to school for 3 days, then ran away again. The victim's mother had to send a request to the police for help. 8 days ago, the male student returned.
The boy’s mother said she sells pork and her husband is in real estate. She and her husband have two sons, the boy is the youngest. He did not do well on his exams because he was afraid and is studying to retake them.
"Since the family reported to the police, the group of people have not come to collect the debt anymore. We hope the investigation agency will soon clarify the act of enticing students to gamble, so that other parents can feel secure," said Ms. Linh.
