Guilt
(Baonghean.vn) - That woman used to be the vice principal of a kindergarten on the outskirts of the city; used to be a good mother, a good wife in a family with 2 obedient sons, her husband was a civil servant, loved his wife and children with all his heart and took care of the family... Yet, now, that woman is a prisoner serving a prison sentence at Prison No. 6 - Ministry of Public Security, located in Hanh Lam commune - Thanh Chuong.
Lieutenant Colonel Ho Than Ky - Deputy Head of the Education Management Team of Prison No. 6 pointed to a prisoner wearing a red armband and said: "This person was formerly the vice principal of a kindergarten. Thanks to his good behavior and his sense of discipline, he was assigned by the Prison Board of Supervisors to be the cell leader." The woman's beautiful but sad eyes caught our attention...
It took the supervisors' persuasion for Nguyen Thi V to agree to talk. It's true, for someone who used to be a leader of a unit, opening up, especially about a story related to the law, is not easy. Looking back at the indictment of the Provincial People's Procuracy 2 years ago, it was surprising: The vice principal who taught people but did not discipline herself had the audacity to "award" herself the label "minister's niece" and promised to find jobs for many people. Holding 30 sets of job application documents and nearly 1 billion VND in "grease money", V took all the money to go shopping, and the victims' documents were "sent" to a pawnshop. Holding the money but not being able to get a job, being chased for debt, V continued to cheat the following victims to have money to pay back the previous victims, even having to borrow money at high interest rates to pay. However, the more she borrowed, the more she owed, the total amount of money V defrauded reached 3 billion VND. With no money to reimburse the victims, in early 2009, V was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Provincial People's Court and was transferred to serve his sentence at this prison.
V was quite open when talking about his life with tears of regret: "I was born and raised in a well-educated family, both my parents were teachers at
In 1993, I got married and had two sons, the eldest born in 1995, the youngest born in 2000. My husband is a normal civil servant, raising two children with a salary is not too difficult, because at the time of my arrest, my salary was already more than 3 million. Perhaps many people will be jealous of my family, but for me, that is not enough.
Seeing other people's husbands having nice cars to drive, other people's children having nice clothes to wear, I was always jealous, so when someone told me to find an errand boy, I followed. When it broke down, there was no way to save it. My whole life, and the happiness of my family, could not be saved.
With a debt of more than 3 billion VND, both sides of the family had to sell their houses, land, and assets to help V pay the debt, but they could only pay 1 billion. Knowing that she could not escape the law, V's mother advised her son to turn himself in. "Just thinking about having to sit in prison for decades, the honor of the family, and the two growing children, how they would look at their friends when their mother was in prison, there were times when I wanted to end my life. I'm so selfish, right? But then my mother encouraged me, and my husband also encouraged me to turn myself in so that I could have the opportunity to return to correct my mistakes and make up for my children." When mentioning her family and her two children, V cried again, but then quickly wiped her tears with her sleeve and forced a smile.
What V regrets most about being here is not the scams but his two sons. "The older son is 16 years old this year, at that age he is very worried without his mother by his side to guide him. But he studies well and is very affectionate, almost every month he visits and encourages his mother." V's possessions in this prison are the letters and souvenirs sent by his two sons. "I wrote this letter to you, reading it made me so sad and hurt, sister. My dream is to take the exam to enter the police force, to become a soldier to protect the peace and happiness of the people, but because I am in here, my dream will never come true. Reading your letter, I cried and regretted a lot, just because of greed, I stole my son's dream. The other day, my two children sent me a swan made from many pieces of folded paper. He told me to fold the paper crane to count the days until I return, but when will I be able to return, sister? I don't have money to pay off my debt to them, so I won't be considered for a reduced sentence. However, I am still determined to reform well, so that when my son returns, he will have less shame or inferiority complex because his mother is in prison."
During her time in prison, V's inseparable possession was her diary, which she wrote to her child every day. As much as she loved her child, V loved her husband just as much. During the days V was in prison, he visited her almost every month and encouraged her to reform well, but what had to happen happened. At the end of 2010, V received a divorce petition from her husband. Perhaps he was afraid that his wife would be upset, so he did not bring the petition himself but asked the wardens to deliver it for him.
Receiving her husband's divorce papers, V felt like the world was collapsing, but thinking back, she realized it was inevitable. Signing the papers, in January 2011, V received the court's approval decision. Although she knew in advance the price she would have to pay for her fraudulent appropriation of property, V still felt very disappointed. "He still loves me very much, sister. Even though we're divorced, he still visits me from time to time. I heard that he's living with another woman as husband and wife, but he doesn't agree to get married. I don't blame him either, men also need a woman's care, while I can't do anything for him."
Another new year is coming, thinking about Tet, V cried again: "Luckily, the children are now moving to live with their grandparents. Tet comes with grandparents, uncles and aunts taking care of them, I feel less anxious here, I just feel sorry for my children who don't have their mother by their side. On Tet, everyone in the family gets together, but the children..." Being trusted by the officers to be the cell head to manage 84 other female prisoners is V's greatest pride since entering the prison. V promised herself: "The officers trust me, my family encourages me, my children give me strength, even though I don't have a chance to have my sentence reduced, I have to do my job well. I have to live well, for my children and for myself too."
Ha Linh