Late tears of a husband accused of killing his wife

(Baonghean.vn) - At the moment of separation, both husband and wife burst into tears. Although they were still full of reproach and resentment, their loving eyes still contained love and affection between husband and wife...

The trial at the Provincial People's Court on the morning of September 6 was very special, the defendant was the husband and the victim was none other than the wife. Attending the trial, the victim only hoped that the court would be lenient with the person who had committed the crime against her. That was the case of the couple Lau Ba Cho and Vu Y Nhenh, residing in Nam Khien 1 village, Nam Can commune, Ky Son district.

The trial did not begin until nearly 9am, but Vu Y Nhenh, her husband's grandfather and two relatives from her mother's side arrived early. Looking at Nhenh's thin, haggard face and small figure, no one would have thought that this was a 29-year-old woman. Raising 4 children, the eldest 8 years old, the youngest just over 1 year old, plus the pain of her husband being in prison, it seemed that Nhenh's youth had been drained away.

Vu Y Nhenh's haggard face when attending her husband's trial. Photo: Phuong Thao.

Lau Ba Cho was led to the dock, occasionally looking down at his wife. Vu Y Nienh did not dare to look straight into her husband's eyes, only holding the scarf covering his head which was still covered with wounds. Only when Lau Ba Cho turned away did Nienh look at her husband from behind. Nienh's eyes still loved her husband very much, more sadness than blame. Nienh did not expect that the day of her brother's funeral would be the day when the couple fell into this difficult situation.

Before that, at noon on April 29, Nhenh was weeding the corn field when Lau Ba Cho came and said, "I'm doing a blessing for my brother, why don't you come back to help?". Nhenh replied, "Why didn't you call your wife and children first when your brother's family was doing a blessing?". Cho continued, "Why didn't you come back?". Nhenh replied, "I don't want to come back." The two argued, then, out of frustration, Cho took the hoe from Nhenh's hand and threw it on the ground, punching Nhenh in the stomach.

Being beaten painfully, Nênh struggled to run away, but Cho used his hand to grab Nênh's collar to hold her back. When begging her husband to leave, Năngh used her foot to kick her shoulder and then got up and ran away. Cho immediately used a hoe to hit Năngh three times, hitting her head, hands and face. Năngh fainted and lay face down on the ground, her entire head and face bleeding profusely. Having seriously injured his wife, Cho did not take her to the emergency room but quietly returned home.

At around 1pm that same day, after being knocked unconscious by Cho, Nênh woke up and tried to crawl home. On the way back, people saw him and he was taken to the Ky Son District General Hospital for emergency treatment. Since then, Cho has been arrested by the police, and Nênh's health has been damaged by 14%, and he is not strong enough to support his four children, so he has to stay at his brother's house.

Sitting next to his granddaughter-in-law, Cho's grandfather, now 73 years old, explained to everyone: "Cho's parents are both in Laos. He and his wife normally live a very loving life together. It was just because of a little alcohol that day that this happened."

Lau Ba Cho burst into tears as he was escorted back to prison. Photo: Phuong Thao.

At court, Nhenh did not ask her husband for civil compensation. Nhenh wrote a petition to reduce her husband's sentence, hoping the court would be lenient so that her husband could return to his wife and children. The judge allowed Lau Ba Cho to turn around and apologize to his wife. Their eyes met, sad. Three hoe blows to his wife's head, then leaving her gasping for breath in the middle of the cornfield, tormented Cho for 4 months in prison. "In prison, the defendant missed his wife very much...", Cho slowly said each Kinh word that was not yet fluent.

After considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, Lau Ba Cho's actions were charged with "Murder", and the court sentenced him to 6 years in prison. When Cho was about to be escorted back to prison, Nhenh burst into tears, "Just because you were angry, now our 4 children have no father to take care of them, I'm too sick, I can't stand it anymore, now I have to go live with my brother....".

Nhenh cried and hurriedly rummaged through her pocket for 400 thousand to ask the prison officer to deposit for her husband. Cho looked back at his wife, his eyes red...

Phuong Thao