Young man tricks mountain girl to go to China to "get married"

On the morning of January 19, the Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial to try the case of "Human trafficking" against Ngan Van Hien (born in 1995, residing in Cham Puong village, Luong Minh commune, Tuong Duong).

Defendant Ngan Van Hien at the trial. Photo: Nhu Binh

According to the indictment, Hien’s aunt, Lu Thi Mai (born in 1984), is married and living in China. This person told Hien to find someone to take her to China to get married, and in addition to paying the family of the person going, she also paid “commission” to Hien.

In February 2014, Hien took Ngan Thi K. (born in 1999) and Lu Thi A. (born in 1997) to China to get married. After going to China, Mai sold these two girls to be wives of Chinese men. Mai gave Hien 230 million VND. Hien took them home, gave Lu Thi A. and Ngan Thi K.'s families 80 million VND each, and Hien pocketed 70 million.

After marrying a Chinese man, Lu Thi A. gave birth to a daughter. When the baby was 7 months old, A. asked her husband's family to let her visit her parents and decided to stay in Vietnam. After that, A.'s family filed a complaint against Ngan Van Hien's actions with the investigation agency.

In July 2017, Ngan Van Hien was arrested by Tuong Duong District Police upon his return from China.

The results of the retrial investigation have sufficient grounds to confirm that Ngan Van Hien committed the act of “Human trafficking” against Lu Thi A. for personal gain. The defendant himself also admitted to the crime as stated in the indictment.

The investigation agency determined that Lu Thi Mai was the person who directly discussed and agreed with Ngan Van Hien about finding and bringing women to China to sell. Mai was the person who directly discussed giving the two girls to Chinese men to marry for profit. Lu Thi Mai's actions constituted the crime of "Human trafficking".

However, Lu Thi Mai is currently not present in the locality, and her identity and specific address are unknown. The investigation agency will continue to verify and will handle the case when there is evidence.

At the time of being taken to China, Ngan Thi K. was not yet 16 years old, so Ngan Van Hien committed the act of "Buying and selling children". However, Ngan Thi K. is currently not in the locality, her family and local authorities do not know where she is or what she is doing.

During the investigation, the investigating agency has not yet recorded K.'s statement, so there is not enough basis to conclude that Ngan Van Hien committed the crime of "Trafficking children". The investigating agency has separated this act into another case. When K.'s statement is obtained, it will be investigated and handled later.

Considering the case as a whole, the panel sentenced Ngan Van Hien to 4 years in prison. Regarding civil liability, because the victim did not request it, the court did not consider it.