Late tears of a husband accused of killing his wife

(Baonghean.vn) - At the moment of parting, both husband and wife burst into tears. Although they had not yet finished blaming and feeling resentful, their loving eyes were still filled with 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 also 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 Nênh, her husband's grandfather, and two relatives from her mother's side were present early. Looking at her thin, haggard face and small figure, no one would have thought that this was a 29-year-old woman. Raising four children, the eldest being eight years old and the youngest just over one year old, plus the pain of her husband being imprisoned, it seemed that Nênh'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, Nênh 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?". Nênh 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?". Nênh replied, "I don't want to come back." The two argued, then, out of frustration, Cho took the hoe from Nênh's hand and threw it on the ground, punching Nênh in the stomach.

Being beaten painfully, Nênh struggled to run away, but Cho used his hand to grab her collar to hold her back. Begging her husband to no avail, Nênh used her foot to kick her shoulder and then got up and ran away. Cho immediately used a hoe to hit Nênh three times, hitting the head, hands and face. Nênh 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 the same day, after being beaten unconscious by Cho, Nênh woke up and tried to crawl home. On the way back, people saw her and she 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 she is not strong enough to support her four children, so she has to stay at her brother's house.

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

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

At court, Nênh did not ask her husband for civil compensation. Nênh 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 lying gasping for breath in the middle of the cornfield caused Cho to be tormented for 4 months in prison. "In prison, the defendant missed his wife very much...", Cho slowly said each Kinh word that he had not yet spoken fluently.

After considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, Lau Ba Cho's actions were convicted of "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 the 4 children have no father to take care of them, I am 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 400,000 VND to ask the prison officer to deposit for her husband. Cho turned back to look at his wife, his eyes red...

Phuong Thao