Heartbreaking image of fatherless child crying when meeting mother in court

Drug trafficking "because of stupidity"

That was the justification of defendant Vi Thi Ha (41 years old), residing in Muong Noc commune, Que Phong district at the trial for the crime ofIllegal drug trafficking. Ha cried, complained about her difficult circumstances and said she sold drugs “because she was stupid”. But that was just an excuse from this woman. Because Vi Thi Ha is a “familiar” defendant in court, having been tried many times by People’s Courts at all levels for drug-related crimes.

Born and raised in Thanh Phong village, Muong Noc commune (Que Phong), Ha's family was poor so she did not have the opportunity to go to school and therefore could not read or write. When she reached adulthood, Ha got married like many other girls in the village. Ha and her husband had two children, the older one was born in 2004 and the younger one was born in 2009.

Defendant Vi Thi Ha. Photo: Tran Vu

While pregnant with her second child, Ha got into trouble with the law because of drugs. In 2008, Vi Thi Ha was sentenced to 11 years in prison for illegal drug trafficking. At that time, because she was pregnant, Ha was given a suspended sentence and continued to live in the locality.

During the period of suspension of sentence, Ha was again involved in drugs and was arrested by the police. The court sentenced Vi Thi Ha to 6 years in prison for 2 crimes of Buying and Selling and Concealing the Illegal Use of Drugs. The total sentence of the 2 sentences that the court forced Vi Thi Ha to serve is 17 years in prison.

While Ha was in prison, her two young children lived with her husband. But in 2010, Ha's husband passed away, leaving behind two young children. Their father died and their mother was in prison, so the two children were taken care of by both their paternal and maternal families. The distance between the paternal and maternal families was more than 30 km, so the two children rarely saw each other. Every year, on holidays and death anniversaries, relatives had the opportunity to reunite the two children for a few days.

In February 2020, Vi Thi Ha was released from prison early. Returning to her hometown after a long time of serving her sentence, Ha took her two children to live with her. All her relatives advised Ha to give up drugs to do honest work, raise her children, and depend on each other to survive. However, this woman continued to make the same mistake. On May 23, 2020, a man in Hung Nguyen district called Ha to order 15 packages of pink phien, the price would be calculated later. Ha agreed, so early in the morning of May 26, she rented a car to go to Nam Giai commune, Que Phong district to buy drugs from a stranger.

This person agreed to sell Ha 15 packages of pink phien on credit for 10 million VND. After buying the drugs, Ha brought them home and hid them in his garden. Then, Ha called the buyer to arrange a time and place for delivery. At noon the same day, Ha hired a car to take him to a motel in Tien Phong commune, Que Phong district to deliver the drugs to the customer, but was arrested by the police. The seized evidence was 285.5 grams of drugs.

In court, when asked about the motive for the crime, defendant Ha cried and said “because he was stupid”. A judge questioned: “The defendant was once in prison for drugs. During the rehabilitation process, the defendant was educated by officials about the law, especially about drugs. Therefore, it is inappropriate for the defendant to say that he sold drugs because he was stupid and did not understand the law. The defendant should realize his mistakes”. Afterwards, Ha justified his difficult circumstances and lack of a stable job.

Mother in prison, child alone

Defendant Ha confessed that after being released from prison, she worked for hire to earn money to raise her children. With the job of working in the fields for hire, she earned 150,000 VND per day. That was a stable income in this mountainous area. However, Ha was not satisfied with what she had. Instead, this woman wanted to do light work with high salary, so she blindly jumped into drug trafficking even though she had only been released from prison for 3 months. In front of the witness stand, the female defendant kept blaming her difficult circumstances and lack of work, even though she had previously admitted that she was paid 150,000 VND per day working for hire.

Having just reunited with their mother after more than 10 years apart, the two children now continue to witness their mother falling into prison. Even more sadly, since Ha was arrested, the two children continue to live in separate places. One of Ha's children is being raised by her paternal relatives, the other by her maternal family. While the younger brother is lucky enough to still be able to go to school, the older brother had to drop out. At 16 years old, the eldest child has to work hard to help his grandmother earn money to support his younger brother's education.

11-year-old child cries when meeting mother in court. Photo: Tran Vu

During the entire time the jury was working, the two children stood outside in the hallway looking in with sad eyes. During the court's deliberation, the two children were led in by relatives. As soon as they saw their mother with her hands cuffed, the 11-year-old child burst into tears. Seeing her child, Ha cried and said: "My child, I'm sorry." Ha repeated those words over and over again. Hearing her mother's sobbing apologies, the 11-year-old child could only stand there and cry. Every now and then, she would use her hand to wipe away her tears. Sometimes, the child turned her red eyes outward while her mother kept apologizing above her. As if not wanting to see her mother and younger brother crying, the child bowed his head and walked out.

Also present in the crowd that came to court that day was the defendant's mother. She was thin and thin, and shared about the difficult situation of her two grandchildren when their father died and their mother was in prison. Talking about her daughtermistake, she said: When he came back from prison, everyone encouraged him and advised him to start a new life to take care of his children who had suffered many disadvantages. Everyone contributed a little bit so that he could soon stabilize his life. However, after only 3 months of being released from prison, his relatives heard that he was arrested by the police for drugs. I was very sad, but now I can only encourage him. "I am old and weak, so I cannot do anything to raise my grandchildren. I only feel sorry for my two grandchildren who have to continue living in different places," she choked up. Then the defendant's mother continued to worry: "Last time he was in prison for 17 years, it was like the two children had lost their childhood. Now I only feel sorry for the children who have lost their father and are now suffering many disadvantages. We try to make up for it, but it is not as good as their parents."

With the crime having the aggravating circumstance of recidivism, the People's Court sentenced the defendant Vi Thi Ha to 20 years in prison for the crime of illegal drug trafficking.

With his father gone and his mother in prison, Ha's two school-age children continue to depend on relatives for support. But what worries many is that Ha's second child may have to drop out of school like his older brother to make a living.