The miserable life of a 10-year-old boy living with his father and stepmother

Duy was not allowed to go to school, had to starve, and was constantly beaten, causing fractured ribs and a fractured skull. He attempted to escape five times without success.

On the afternoon of December 7, in a small room on Phung Hung Street (Hoan Kiem, Hanoi), many people came to share with Ms. Ngan when they heard the news that Duy (10 years old, her son) had to escape from the house he was living with his father and stepmother because he could not stand the beatings.

Ms. Ngan said that for the past two days, when Duy returned to his grandmother and mother, he was delirious and constantly startled. He did not dare look at his father's picture on the phone and was scared when people mentioned the beating.

Sitting next to his mother, the 10-year-old boy with scars all over his face and a large, several-centimeter-long lump said fearfully, "I don't want to go back there." Doctors determined that Duy had four cracked ribs and a fractured skull.

Duy said he was afraid of his father and did not want to live with him again, but asked the police to forgive his father.

In 2014, Ngan and her husband divorced after many years of living together, each raising one child. From then until early 2016, Duy lived with his biological father, stepmother and grandparents in a separate house on Hoang Hoa Tham Street. According to the agreement, the mother was allowed to see her child on weekends.

In July 2016, Duy's father and his family moved out to rent a room. Since then, the grandparents and Ms. Ngan lost contact and were not allowed to see Duy. Ms. Ngan asked her ex-husband many times to let her see her son, but was refused. "He made up all sorts of excuses, changed his phone number, and moved to another room," Ms. Ngan said.

Unable to go to school, beaten for nearly two years

Duy said that at first, his father and stepmother lived on Ngoc Ha street, then moved to a rented room on Lac Long Quan street (Nghia Do ward, Cau Giay). He had to drop out of school after finishing second grade, had to do adult work, and was constantly beaten by his father and stepmother, regardless of whether he was at fault or not.

“I often went hungry, for two years I didn’t have a good meal and many nights I had to sleep on a thin blanket on the ground. I couldn’t go out to play, I just stayed at home all day,” Duy said.

For nearly two years, the boy saved 5,000 VND from the purchases he had left over. Duy planned to use this money to run away, but failed five times. "Once I escaped from home but my father caught me, dragged me back and beat me," Duy said.

Tran Hoai Nam reenacts child abuse.

On the evening of December 5, Duy 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 motorbike taxi driver gave him another 2,000 VND and took him to the bus stop, helping him catch a bus to Hoang Hoa Tham Street. "I haven't been home for nearly two years, but I still remember the alley and house number. When I got to Bach Thao Park, I told the driver to let me off the bus and then drove straight to my grandparents' house," the 10-year-old boy said.

Regarding her son, Ms. Ngan reported the incident to the police. She burst into tears when she saw her son at the police station after nearly two years apart. Duy was skinny with long hair covering his ears like a girl's and his clothes were torn, his face was covered with wounds. "If he hadn't spoken up and worn the shirt I bought for him before, I wouldn't have believed this was my son," she said.

A day later, Duy’s father, Tran Hoai Nam (34 years old), was arrested by the police of Cau Giay district, Hanoi, to investigate the abuse of his 10-year-old son. On the same day, the authorities took Nam home to practice the abuse.

At the police station, Nam said that his child was naughty and disobedient and needed to be "disciplined". He used many aluminum coat hangers woven into whips, forcing his child to lie face down or stand close to the wall to beat him. Many times, Nam used a soup ladle to hit his child on the head, and even kicked him, breaking his ribs.

According to lawyer Truong Anh Tu, Nam’s actions show signs of committing the crime of Torturing others, with the aggravating circumstance of committing the crime against a dependent person. If prosecuted, Nam could face a maximum penalty of three years in prison.

*The boy's name has been changed.

According to VNE