Lying about babysitting a 13-year-old girl to sell her to a Chinese man as a wife

On March 11, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened the first instance criminal trial of the "Child trafficking" case against Lang Thi Lien (born 1984), residing in Mau Duc commune, Con Cuong district.

Lang Thi Lien married a Chinese man and lived there for quite a long time. During the Lunar New Year 2017, Lien returned to visit her family. During her visit to her hometown, Lien met Ms. Lo Thi B. (residing in Binh Chuan commune, Con Cuong) and asked her to take her granddaughter Chuong Thi M. (born 2003, Ms. B.'s daughter) to China to look after her child and she agreed.

Defendant Lang Thi Lien at the trial. Photo: Nhu Binh

On February 17, 2017, Lang Thi Lien took her child M. by car to Mong Cai (Quang Ninh) and then took her straight to Hebei province, China. Once there, Lien sold the child to a Chinese man to be his wife for 70,000 yuan (equivalent to 210 million VND). From the sale of child M., Lien sent 80 million VND to Ms. B., paid the broker 60 million VND, and gave M. 10 million VND to fix her teeth. Lien used the remaining money for personal expenses.

After learning that her daughter was sold, Ms. Lo Thi B. asked Ms. Vi Thi T. (born in 1978, residing in Don Phuc commune, Con Cuong) to go to China to pick up her daughter. However, when Ms. T. found M. and took her to escape, she was captured by Lien and some Chinese people. This group of people held Ms. T. back and demanded that her relatives send 110,000 yuan (330 million VND) to ransom her.

On July 24, 2017, the Investigation Police Agency of Nghe An Province Police coordinated with Mong Cai City Police (Quang Ninh) and the Blue Dragon organization to request the Chinese Police to rescue Chuong Thi M. and Vi Thi T. After nearly 2 months, the Chinese side returned these 2 victims to Vietnam.

In December 2018, Lang Thi Lien returned to Vietnam and was arrested.

At the trial, Lien admitted to selling M. and hoped to receive leniency from the law. The panel sentenced Lang Thi Lien to 8 years in prison and ordered her to pay the victim more than 50 million VND in compensation.