The sadness of a mountain mother who traveled more than 300 km to 'send' her son to prison

On a day in early November 2019, the cold air and light rains made the sky even more gloomy. Ms. Luong Thi Su (65 years old), residing in Bac Ly commune, Ky Son district, along with her son, daughter-in-law and several grandchildren, traveled more than 300 km to Nghe An Provincial People's Court to attend the first instance trial of her son - defendant Vi Khun Kham (35 years old) who was brought to trial for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking". With a thin figure, a dark face, and a look of fatigue, the mother from the mountainous region was filled with tears when she saw her son in court.

Attending her son's trial, Ms. Luong Thi Su sat quietly, occasionally raising her hand to wipe away tears. Photo: Tran Vu

According to her, Vi Khun Kham was the fourth of seven children of her husband and wife. Due to the large number of children and poverty, Kham only finished 5th grade and then dropped out. However, Kham was still considered luckier than his two older brothers because he was healthy and could go to school. Because, Kham's two older brothers were deaf and mute and often sick.

Feeling sorry for his mother who had to work hard to raise his brothers alone, Kham often helped his mother with household chores. When he had his own family, Kham did not hesitate to welcome his mother and deaf-mute brothers to live in his house.

But that was not all the hardships of this family. One of the three children of the Kham couple was born deaf and mute and had an eye disease, making the life of the Kham couple even more difficult. In desperation, Vi Khun Kham could no longer control himself and got involved in drug trafficking in exchange for 2 million VND.

Accordingly, around the beginning of June 2019, Kham went out and exchanged phone numbers with a man named Viet. Around June 11, 2019, Viet called and arranged to meet Kham on a street in Buoc village, Bac Ly commune. Here, Viet said: "Please buy me some opium to sell, I will split the profit with you." Kham agreed and said "no need to split it, just give me 2 million."

After that, Viet gave Kham 5 million VND to buy drugs. At 12 noon of the same day, Kham went to meet a man named Pho Phuong, in Huoi Bac village, Bac Ly commune, to ask where to sell drugs and then gave him 5 million VND. Phuong took the money and promised to have the "goods" tomorrow. At 7 pm of the same day, Phuong gave the "goods" and Kham asked, "Are these really drugs?". After the seller confirmed that it was drugs, Kham hid it in the shirt he was wearing and went home. At around 6 am on June 12, 2019, Kham put on the shirt that hid the drugs and went down to the farm to feed the cattle. On the way back, he was checked by the My Ly Border Guard Station working group and discovered drugs with a weight of 38.4 grams of Methamphetamine.

The news that her fourth child was arrested for drug-related crimes shocked and saddened Mrs. Su. The mother, who had worked hard all her life on the farm, never expected that her child, whom she had placed so much trust in, would end up in jail. With the desire to encourage her child to reform and have a chance to start his life over, she traveled a long distance that day to attend the court hearing.

Before the witness stand, Vi Khun Kham admitted all his crimes. The defendant said that due to difficult circumstances and his sick child, he agreed when someone invited him to go drug trafficking. “Because of the difficulties and pressure of his sick children and sick siblings, the defendant committed the crime,” Kham justified his wrongdoings.

Listening to her son’s testimony, Mrs. Su sat below wiping away tears. Seeing her son during the court’s deliberations, she sent words of encouragement to Kham. It is unclear what the mother and son discussed, but both shed tears. Kham’s wife, sitting next to Mrs. Su, also cried when she saw her husband.

Defendant Vi Khun Kham. Photo: Tran Vu

For the crime of “Illegal drug trafficking”, Vi Khun Kham was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The investigation agency determined that in this case there was also a man named Viet, who asked Kham to buy drugs. The police conducted an investigation but there was no basis for investigation or clarification. Regarding Pho Phuong, the investigation agency took a statement but Phuong did not admit to buying and selling drugs for Kham, so there was not enough basis to handle according to the provisions of the law.

The court ended, seeing defendant Kham being led to the covered truck, the mother could only run after him, crying and calling his name. Before her son got in the truck to go to the detention center, Mrs. Su cried and told him to reform well and return to his family soon. As for Kham's wife, she choked up as she shared her plan to send her son to his grandmother, and she would go to work as a factory worker to earn money to raise the child while her husband served his sentence...