Father who abused 10-year-old son charged with additional crimes

According to the police, on December 5, 2017, after being beaten by his stepmother for “sneaking into stewed beef”, the boy thought of escaping from the house he was living with his father and stepmother in Nghia Do ward, Cau Giay district. At 5:00 p.m. the same day, when his father and stepmother went out, the boy took 5,000 VND and ran to meet a motorbike taxi driver at the alley entrance to ask to take him to his grandparents’ house. The driver gave the boy another 2,000 VND and took him to the bus stop, helping him catch a bus to Hoang Hoa Tham street.

The next day, Nam was arrested for investigation. The father confessed that he had bent an aluminum hanger into a whip and forced his son to lie face down or stand against a wall to "discipline him". Sometimes Nam used a soup ladle to hit his son on the head and kicked him, breaking his ribs.

Trinh also admitted that on the afternoon of December 5, she used chopsticks to hit the child hard in the face for "stealing something". Trinh said that if she did not "discipline" her husband's stepchild, when her husband came home and found out, he would be even more harsh.

After the above incident, Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung requested the authorities of Cau Giay district to urgently investigate, soon come to a conclusion and strictly handle this act of child abuse.

So far, authorities have determined that in addition to child abuse, Nam also caused 22% injury to the boy. The stepmother caused 3% injury to the boy, so the police have imposed an administrative penalty for this act.

Clause 2, Article 104, Penal Code 1999 stipulates: Committing the crime of causing injury or damage to the health of another person with a disability rate of 31% to 60% or from 11% to 30%, but falling into one of the cases specified in points a to k, Clause 1 of this Article, shall be punished with imprisonment from two to seven years.