Mother's heartache

(Baonghean) -The trial had not yet begun, but the woman in the wheelchair had arrived very early. She did not say a word, only looked out of the courtroom, her eyes filled with deep sadness. Next to her was a girl of about 12 years old, with dark skin and thin skin, pushing the wheelchair out the gate and into the courtroom. After investigation, it was discovered that she was a former youth volunteer who had participated in the resistance war - the mother of a defendant in the case.

Coming from a well-educated family, Thai Ba Phuong (born in 1972, Tam Hop commune, Quy Hop) is the only son in the family. Therefore, Phuong was loved by his parents, taught every word with the hope that their son would grow up and become mature and fulfill his filial duties. However, all the family's expectations for Phuong disappeared after falling into the law. After finishing 4th grade, Phuong dropped out of school, followed a group of bad friends, lived a vagrant life, drank, gambled and played video games. Phuong's father tried every way to "train" Phuong, but the more strict he was, the more Phuong showed himself to be careless, sleeping during the day, staying up at night, going where and what he did without anyone knowing. There were times when he bluntly declared to Phuong that he would rather not have a child like Phuong than let her go astray... After a while, Phuong "changed" positively so her parents sent her to learn motorcycle repair, then opened a shop at home. Seeing Phuong's progress and hard work, everyone in the family was happy. Then Phuong also found himself a life partner. Phuong's wife was a girl named Ho, gentle, pretty, from Quynh Luu.

In the early days of their marriage, Phuong always showed himself to be a loving husband. Phuong did all the heavy work in the family. In 1999, Phuong's wife gave birth to their first daughter. Needless to say, her parents and extended family were very happy and joyful. But the happy days were short-lived. After the birth of their daughter, who was over a year old, Phuong began to change, abandoning the fields to his wife, hanging out with bad people all day, drinking, gambling, and then getting involved with a "brown fairy" without anyone knowing. The assets in the house also gradually disappeared with the white smoke. From a strong man, Phuong is now physically and mentally disabled, emaciated, and has dark, bruised skin. The family had to send Phuong to a drug rehabilitation facility in Tan Ky district, hoping that there was still life to be had. But not long after, Phuong relapsed. Not only that, Phuong also organized the retail sale of heroin and was arrested by Quy Hop District Police and sentenced to 7 years in prison by the District People's Court.

More heartbreakingly, when Phuong was serving a 3-month sentence at Binh Dien Prison, his wife appeared, presenting divorce papers in front of him, instead of coming to visit him as Phuong had secretly thought. The family's happiness was shattered, and the couple's 2-year-old daughter was raised by her grandparents, lacking parental love.

Phuong's mother looked at her child in extreme pain.

In 2008, after serving his prison sentence, Phuong returned to his hometown. Seeing his family broken, his children not recognizing him, his wife remarried, Phuong was like a madman, continuing to seek out drug addicts. Because of his concern for his grandson growing up without the love and care of his parents, the family quickly sold the buffalo for 27 million VND to send Phuong to continue rehab, the remaining money was invested in Phuong to buy spare parts to repair motorbikes. Like wind blowing into an empty house, 4 months later, Phuong sold everything to smoke. Helpless before his unruly child, combined with his illness and old age, Phuong's father fell ill and passed away, leaving behind a three-room tiled house without any valuable property and a paralyzed wife. And what had to happen happened, on March 8, 2012, Thai Ba Phuong was once again arrested by Quy Hop District Police for drug trafficking, and sentenced to 9 years in prison. Her husband died, her son was in prison, leaving behind a paralyzed old woman and a frail grandson, Phuong's mother lived a lonely life like a candle in the wind. How miserable she was when the lights went out, the grandmother and grandchild hugged each other in tears. On November 15, 2012, hearing that Nghe An Provincial People's Court had brought Phuong to the appeal trial, she asked her son-in-law to take her to Vinh City to save Phuong. Sitting at the back of the hall in a wheelchair, as soon as she saw Phuong leading her to stand in front of the bar, she quickly rolled the wheelchair forward as if she wanted to see Phuong clearly. Phuong turned back to look at her paralyzed old mother as if she wanted to say thank you and forgive him. For the second time, he was facing a 9-year prison sentence for illegal drug trafficking.

At the panel of judges, considering the mitigating circumstances, such as both parents were resistance fighters, awarded various medals by the State, moreover, the defendant's mother was paralyzed after a stroke, the couple had separated, the daughter was only 12 years old, the family was poor, the older sister married far away, and the defendant was the only son. The panel of judges sentenced the defendant Thai Ba Phuong to 8 years in prison for "Illegal drug trafficking". Many people expressed their agreement with this sentence. A touching image that made the people attending the trial unable to hold back their tears was when the court finished announcing the sentence, Phuong asked to see her 12-year-old daughter and her paralyzed mother who were sitting numbly in a wheelchair. Phuong hugged her mother and daughter and choked up saying: "I beg you to forgive this unfilial son. Please stay healthy to raise the children and wait for me to return". The mother hugged her face and wiped away the tears that ran down her painful cheeks, telling Phuong: "You must reform yourself well so that you can come back soon to take care of your child... As for me, I probably can't live to wait for the day you come back"!!!

Phuong got into the car to go back to the detention center in tears. Phuong's mother and relatives watched Phuong until the car disappeared from the courtroom...

Huu Trong