Former female teacher sentenced to 11 years in prison for trafficking women to China.

On July 30th,The People's Court of Nghe An province opened a criminal trial, conducting the first-instance hearing against the defendant Lo Thi Thuong (61 years old, former teacher, residing in Trung Chinh village, Yen Khe commune, Con Cuong district) for the crime of human trafficking.

According to records, Thuong used to be a teacher. After retiring, Thuong left her husband and children in her hometown and followed friends to China to work, where she married a Chinese man. In 2014, in China, Thuong met Truong Thi Nga and Vi Thi Van (both from Con Cuong) who had also left their homes to marry Chinese men.

Defendant Lo Thi Thuong at the first-instance trial. Photo:Khanh An

On May 4, 2014, Thuong asked her Chinese husband for permission to visit her hometown. A month later, Nga also returned to her hometown and visited Thuong's house. They discussed finding someone to take to China to be sold to men as wives, with the money to be split between them.

Thuong agreed, called Ms. Vi Thi Th. (54 years old, Thuong's cousin) and said: "I just returned from China. Over there, I worked in the textile industry, the work was easy, and the monthly salary was 8 million dong. Do you have any more debts to the bank at home? Come with me to work there." Ms. Th., being in difficult circumstances, trusted Thuong and agreed to go to China with her.

Using the same ploy of recruiting people to work in China making cotton yarn, promising easy work and high wages, Thuong deceived Ms. Kha Thi Thanh Ng. (54 years old), Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai Y. (19 years old, Thuong's former student), and Ms. Lo Thi Ph. (53 years old, all residing in Con Cuong district) into going to China.

Thuong, Nga, and Sang sold three victims—Ms. Th, Ms. Ng, and Ms. Y—to Chinese men to be their wives for 116,000 yuan (equivalent to 348 million VND). Nga gave Thuong 18 million VND of this money.

As for Ms. Ph., Thưởng's Chinese husband sold her to another man for 48 million dong. After selling the victim, Thưởng's husband took all the money, not sharing a single penny with Thưởng.

In March 2015, Thuong, along with Van and a woman named Sang, tricked Ms. Vu Thi T. and Ms. Luong Thi B. into going to China to be sold. Van sold Ms. T. to a Chinese man who bought her as a wife, receiving 66 million VND.

As for Mrs. B, she refused to get married and went on a hunger strike for many days, refusing to eat, drink, or sleep, which led to a relapse of her heart condition, which worsened progressively. Thuong, Van, and Sang used the money from selling Mrs. T to buy bus and train tickets for Mrs. B to return to her husband and children in her hometown of Nghe An. Van said that all the money had been spent, so Thuong hadn't received a single penny from selling Mrs. T.

In this case, Nga and Van are currently not present in the area. The police are continuing their investigation and will prosecute them once they are apprehended.

Currently, Y. is in China, and authorities have not yet been able to rescue her and bring her back home.

At the trial, the defendant Thuong confessed honestly, showed remorse, and asked for a reduced sentence.

After considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the court sentenced the defendant Thuong to 11 years in prison for the crime of human trafficking.