Late moment of repentance

(Baonghean) - In front of the bar, the defendant Hung was thin and haggard, standing with his head bowed next to a short, stocky, white woman, answering the questions raised by the jury. In the hallway, his eldest daughter was still laughing and talking happily next to her mother and younger sister. She did not pay much attention to the scene taking place inside the court...

Luong Xuan Hung (born in 1981, residing in Viet Huong village, Chau Hoi commune, Quy Chau district) is known as a gentle person who knows how to take care of his family. Due to difficult family circumstances, Hung had to leave his family early, following the young men in the village to the South to work as hired laborers in construction projects. Also during this time, Hung met and fell in love with Ms. Pham Thi T. (from Nam Dinh). Ms. T. agreed to follow Hung back to her hometown and became husband and wife. Every day, in addition to taking care of several fields of sugarcane, to have money to cover living expenses, Hung and his wife had to send their children to their grandparents to work as hired laborers. Hung is also known as a good husband, always loving and taking care of his wife and children. Although their family life is difficult, the villagers have never heard Hung and his wife raise their voices. They both praise and envy the peaceful and happy life that Hung has.

Defendant Luong Xuan Hung.

Having a beautiful wife and obedient children, no one could have imagined that he could deceive and betray his wife and children by having an affair with another woman. That relationship was kept secret by Hung for many years, only when he got into trouble with the law was the relationship exposed.

Vi Thi Nga (born in 1986, living in Chau Hanh commune, Quy Chau district) - Hung's little lover is not very educated. After a long time wandering from the South to the North to work for hire, thinking that she would not stay in the city for long because of her meager salary, with the small capital she had saved up for a long time, Nga returned to her hometown and rented a small kiosk selling groceries and soft drinks in Quy Chau town. During the times she went to town, she stopped by Nga's shop for a drink. Hung quickly fell in love with the skillful and gentle owner of the shop. The passionate new love made Hung forget that he already had his own home in his hometown.

A few months before her arrest, Nga happened to meet a woman named Hong, from Lang Son. While stopping by the cafe for a drink, the woman introduced herself as a miner in Quy Chau district. After only a few conversations, Hong invited Nga to join the drug trafficking ring. She offered that if Nga agreed to successfully transport drugs from Que Phong district to Hanoi, she would be paid 40 million VND for each trip. Although she knew nothing about the law, Nga had repeatedly refused after witnessing many people in the village being arrested and imprisoned for drug trafficking. But then, thinking about the huge reward, Nga nodded in agreement. Because she was afraid that going alone would be difficult, Nga told her lover about her plan to "change her life". Hung enthusiastically supported Nga's plan to trade drugs.

On December 6, 2013, according to the plan of a woman named Hong, Nga and Hung rode a motorbike to Huoi Xai village (Que Phong district). Upon arrival, the two met a Mong man. After receiving a bag of money from Hong from Nga, the man gave Nga two heroin bricks and 40 million VND. After receiving the goods and the reward, Hung and Nga quickly got on their motorbikes and returned.

In the early morning of December 7, 2013, while passing through Pa Lai area (Chau Tien commune, Quy Chau district), both were arrested by the anti-drug crime force of Nghe An border guards. Through the search, the authorities seized 628.1 grams of heroin.

On the afternoon of April 22, 2014, the first instance trial of the criminal case against the two defendants Vi Thi Nga and Luong Xuan Hung on charges of “illegally buying, selling and transporting drugs” was held. While Hung showed remorse, repentance, and honestly confessed the truth, Nga persistently made excuses for her actions in order to refute the verdicts of the jury. Thi claimed that she had never seen drugs and did not know what drugs were.

In the dock, Nga and Hung stood there as accomplices in the case of illegal drug trafficking and transportation. But during the trial, the extramarital relationship between the two subjects was exposed.

Sitting in the last row of seats in the auditorium, Ms. T. held her child and sobbed as she faced the paradox. Tears of bitterness and pain fell one after another. Occasionally, the audience heard her sobbing, mingling with the lullabies of her child in the hallway. Present at the trial, she had to bear two great pains alone. The pain of having to witness her husband being tempted by illegal money and getting caught up in the law. Even more bitter, at this very trial, her ears were ringing when she heard a heartbreaking truth: The woman standing in the dock with her husband was not only an accomplice in the case but also their lover. The truth was so cruel that she could not believe what she had heard: “It hurts so much, sister, for all these years of living together, he still loved and cared for his wife and children. I could not believe that he would betray his wife and children like that.”

On the day her husband was arrested, she was pregnant with their second child. When the day came to give birth, she gave birth alone in pain and humiliation. Then she had to shoulder all the burden and take care of her two children by herself. Although she was angry with her husband for not knowing how to protect himself from the temptation of money, she still hoped that he would reform well so that he could quickly return to his wife and children and start over.

During the deliberation, Hung cried like a child. Occasionally, he was seen raising his handcuffed hands to quickly wipe away his tears. He tried to look around his red eyes to find his two children as if to satisfy his longing. As if she knew her husband's wish, Ms. T immediately called her two daughters who were playing innocently in the court hallway to meet their father. Hearing the call, the child happily held her mother's hand and found the chair closest to Hung so that father and daughter could meet. After nearly half a year of separation, today, Hung's whole family was reunited. Hung's two children, the older one is 4 years old, the younger one is only 4 months old. They are too young to understand why they are here, why their parents are crying? They are too young to feel the pain they are suffering.

The 18-year prison sentence was the price Luong Xuan Hung had to pay for his blindness and weakness in the face of temptation. Standing next to Hung, his little mistress Vi Thi Nga collapsed when she received a 20-year prison sentence for illegally transporting and trading drugs. At the end of the trial, the image of Ms. T trying to hold her 4-month-old baby and squeeze into the crowd so that Hung and his father could see each other made everyone present feel sad. Putting aside all the pain, she loudly told her husband: "Remember to reform well so you can quickly return to me and my child." In response, Hung looked up at his wife with red eyes as if pleading for forgiveness.

Article and photos:Doan Thi Hoang