Father who beat son's boyfriend to death will not have his sentence reduced
Although the prosecutor proposed a lighter sentence, the court did not reduce Tuan's sentence for using a belt to beat a 10th grade male student to death.
On April 9, the High People's Court in Ho Chi Minh City rejected the appeal of the People's Procuracy and the defendant's request for a reduced sentence, and sentenced Huynh Minh Tuan (38 years old) to life in prison for murder.
According to the court, the sentence imposed by the first instance court was appropriate to the nature, extent, and consequences of the case. The victim died unintentionally by Tuan, but the defendant ignored the consequences, so a severe punishment was needed.
Tuan was silent in court. Photo:Binh Nguyen |
The verdict determined that on the evening of December 23, 2015, when he came home from work and heard his wife say that their daughter (in 8th grade) had gone out and hadn't returned since morning, Tuan was angry and went to wait in front of the house.
Later, seeing Dinh Thanh Thao (15 years old) bringing his daughter home, Tuan pulled out a belt (with a stainless steel tip) and folded it in half to hit his daughter. Thao ran to block the blows for her friend, but Tuan repeatedly hit her on the head.
When the 10th grader collapsed, everyone tried to stop him, then Tuan stopped. Upon learning of the incident, Thao's family took their son to the emergency room, but he died from a traumatic brain injury.
Tuan was prosecuted by Hoc Mon District People's Procuracy for the crime of Intentional Infliction of Injury, but the court returned the investigation file, stating that the defendant showed signs of Murder.
The case was transferred to the city level for investigation, Tuan was prosecuted for murder with the highest penalty being death penalty.
In July last year, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court held a first-instance trial and determined that Tuan's actions were hooliganism and child murder, so he was sentenced to life in prison. Previously, the Procuracy had requested 16-18 years in prison.
Tuan appealed for a reduced sentence. The prosecutor also appealed for a reduced sentence for him because "The defendant's behavior is an indirect intentional fault",the motive is to teach children,the purpose of beating to relieve anger... becauseThe girl went out with her boyfriend many times even though her family forbade it.
However, this view was not accepted by the Court of Appeal.