One person died, another received 20 years in prison for a small debt.

"Going to the knife" for debt repayment
It has been 5 years since the incident, but the neighbors of Mr. Hoang Thanh T. (born in 1979) residing in Dien Hoang commune, Dien Chau district (Nghe An) still cannot forget the details of that day. Because the cause of the incident was completely ridiculous, leading to 2 young men who were "strong and strong", one appeared in court, the other passed away forever...
Ms. Tran Thi Thanh (victim's neighbor) said: The time Mr. T. was stabbed was around 8 or 9 pm. When we heard the news, we rushed over immediately, but the injuries were too severe and Mr. T. died on the way to the emergency room. The young father, who was the main breadwinner of the family at that time, passed away, leaving behind his elderly parents and two young children. It took a long time for the family to overcome this loss.
It is known that before that, Mr. Hoang Thanh T. had borrowed 1.6 million VND from Mr. Truong Nhu Ngoc (residing in Dien My commune, Dien Chau district). Although Mr. Truong Nhu Ngoc asked many times, Mr. T. always asked for a delay. On January 22, 2018, Mr. Hoang Thanh T. made an appointment with Truong Nhu Ngoc to come to MT drinking place (Hamlet 9, Dien My commune) that evening to pay the debt.
That evening, Ngoc had an appointment to go to Tran Quang Hung's brother's house in Hamlet 12, Dien My Commune to drink. There, Ngoc met Hung. After drinking, Ngoc asked Hung to take her to MT restaurant to collect her debt. Hung agreed and asked Phan Thanh N. (born in 1987), residing in Hamlet 13, Dien My Commune, Dien Chau District, to go with him.

When they met, Mr. T. took out his wallet, took out the money he owed Ngoc, and put it on the table. Ngoc collected the money and complained about Mr. T.'s slow payment, so an argument broke out between the two sides.
Angry at seeing his new acquaintance being insulted, Hung's "heroic blood" rose, so he immediately took out a stick that he had kept in the trunk of his motorbike and hit T repeatedly.
Suddenly beaten by the opponent, Mr. T. and his friend, Mr. Hoang Van L. (born in 1981), both living in Dien Hoang commune, took out knives to chase and threaten to beat them. Seeing Mr. T. resist, Hung and a few people in the group immediately ran away.
Feeling angry because of the other party's attitude, paying late and beating the creditor, Hung went to a blacksmith shop to get a knife and returned to the shop to find the people who beat him to "clear this up".
When he learned that Mr. T. was at Mr. Hoang Van L.'s house, Hung rode his motorbike there. At that time, Mr. Hoang Thanh T. was sitting drinking water with some people. Seeing Hung running towards him with a knife, everyone ran away, except Mr. T. who stood still.
Suddenly, Mr. T. was stabbed multiple times by Hung. Mr. Hoang Van L. came out of the house and saw this. He quickly called out to the people around him and helped Mr. T. into the bedroom and locked the door. However, Hung still refused to stop and tried to break the door to get in. Only when he saw the police arrive did Hung run away. Although he was taken to the emergency room by the people in time, Mr. Hoang Thanh T. died due to the severity of his injuries.
When he heard that Mr. T. had passed away, Hung went to Dien Chau District Police to surrender and hand over the murder weapon.

The pain of parents
Mr. Hoang Thanh M. (the victim's father) is nearly 80 years old this year. At an age when he should be spending time with his children and grandchildren, Mr. M. still has not gotten over the pain of losing his only son.
Mr. Hoang Thanh T. is the youngest of three children and the only son in the family. As the main breadwinner supporting his elderly parents and his young children, he suddenly passed away, leaving his entire family in pain and loss.
“Just because of youthful rashness, both sides are at fault. My family lost their son, but their son also had to serve a 20-year prison sentence, which is hard enough. The worst thing is for the children to be orphaned,” Mr. M. shared.

Since Mr. Hoang Thanh T. passed away, Ms. NTH (the victim's wife) also had to work for a company to earn money to support the family, and the two children had to live away from their father and mother, living with their grandparents.

On the morning of September 20, 2018, the Provincial People's Court opened the first instance criminal trial of defendant Tran Quang Hung (born in 1990), residing in Dien My commune, Dien Chau district, for the crime of "Murder". The trial was attended by many people. All were relatives and neighbors of both the victim and the defendant. No one could avoid feeling sorry for the fate of the two families, one side lost their child forever, the other side was imprisoned.
Mr. Hoang Thanh M. is in his seventies, participating as a representative of the victim, representing the claim for the rights of his daughter-in-law and grandchildren.

At the trial, witnessing the perpetrator of his son's unjust death recount the crime, taking his son's life, Mr. M. could only lean his skinny hands on the chair. Listening to the perpetrator's story, the old father could not hold back his pain, tears rolling down his wrinkled cheeks.
Due to his poor health, the panel of judges allowed him to sit down and express his opinion during the debate. Before the trial, the defendant’s family had compensated the victim’s family 115 million VND. Ms. NTH, the wife of the victim Hoang Thanh T., also filed a petition to reduce the defendant’s sentence and did not ask for any further compensation. However, the pain of losing his son forever made the father, who is over 70 years old, unable to avoid being moved. In a weak, hoarse voice, he spoke up to blame the defendant’s family and mourn for his child…

As soon as the panel deliberated, the hall became chaotic with the reproaches of the defendant's family. Mrs. Hoang Thi L., the defendant's mother, was very hurt when she heard the 20-year prison sentence that the representative of the Procuracy had proposed. Thinking of the distant return of her son, Mrs. L.'s eyes blurred, her face was lined with hardship, unable to contain her emotions, she cried and blamed the victim's family for being "too much" because her family had tried to borrow money to compensate properly.
Hearing that, Mr. M. had tears in his eyes, his hands trembling as he held the portrait and called his son’s name in a choked sob. Just because of a moment of youthful recklessness, Hung committed a crime and ended up in prison. Witnessing that heartbreaking scene, Tran Quang Hung could only say: “I’m sorry… I was wrong” and covered his face and cried…
When given the final say, defendant Tran Quang Hung asked the panel of judges to reduce his sentence so that he could soon return to his family and have a chance to correct his mistakes. Based on a comprehensive review of the case, the panel of judges determined that before, during and after committing the crime, defendant Tran Quang Hung was a person with full capacity to bear criminal responsibility, committed the crime with direct intention in the act of pursuing and killing the victim to the end, taking the life of the victim. The defendant's actions were very dangerous to society, and were considered an especially serious case.

The panel of judges held that although the defendant had mitigating circumstances such as: Honest confession, repentance, and had influenced relatives to partially compensate the victim's family for civil damages, given the nature and particularly seriousness of the case and the aggravating circumstance of "deliberately committing the crime to the end", it was necessary to apply a punishment appropriate to the nature, extent, and consequences caused by the defendant, ensuring the fairness and strictness of the law.
Therefore, the People's Court sentenced the defendant Tran Quang Hung to 20 years in prison for the crime of "Murder". Regarding the civil part, the defendant was forced to pay alimony to the victim's elderly father and two young children, each of whom is 1.5 million VND/month.