Poor father searches tirelessly for his daughter, sold into slavery by her boyfriend.

For money, they even sell their girlfriends.

The People's Court of Nghe An province recently held a trial for defendant Cut Kham Huong (born in 1995), residing in Huu Kiem commune, Ky Son district, on the charge of "human trafficking." Although the crime occurred nearly 10 years ago, the painful and humiliating memories of the two victims Huong deceived and sold remain. This is especially true for Chich Thi Th. (born in 1999, residing in Bao Nam commune, Ky Son district), whose humiliation is amplified because she was the defendant's girlfriend.

Going back 10 years, Ms. Th. was only 16 years old. Although they lived in two different communes, after getting to know each other, she and Huong developed a romantic relationship. Later, Huong went to Mong Cai City (Quang Ninh province) to work. While working there, Huong met a woman named Ly (whose background and address are unknown). Ly offered Huong a 90 million VND commission for finding women to sell as wives in China, so Huong returned to her hometown to find "prey".

In July 2015, when meeting his girlfriend in his hometown, Huong heard her confide about her family's difficulties and her desire to work to earn money. At this point, the man conceived the idea of ​​tricking his girlfriend into being sold abroad. Huong lied to his girlfriend, telling her that working in China would bring in a lot of money. When his girlfriend agreed, he even told her to invite her friend, Moong Thi Kh. (born in 1999, residing in Bao Nam commune), to come along.

Afterward, Huong took her boyfriend and Ms. Kh. by car to Mong Cai City. There, a woman arranged by Ly picked up all three and smuggled them into China via an unofficial border crossing.

At Ly's house, Cut Kham Huong sold her boyfriend and Ms. Kh. for 182 million dong and told the two girls, "Stay and marry a Chinese man, and you will give 90 million dong to each family." Although terrified, the two girls did not dare to resist because they had no other choice.

About two weeks later, Ly sold Ms. Th. to a man in Hebei Province (China) to be his wife for 195 million VND. Ms. Kh. was sold to a man in Beijing for 240 million VND. In this case, Huong profited 182 million VND, while Ly profited 253 million VND.

After being trafficked for five years, in October 2020, Ms. Th. was allowed to return to Vietnam to visit her husband's family. Ms. Moong Thi Kh., however, did not return to Vietnam until February 2024. In March 2024, the two victims filed a complaint against Cut Kham Huong for human trafficking with the police. Upon realizing her actions had been exposed, Huong surrendered to the police.

Poor father travels far and wide to find his son.

At the trial, the defendant showed remorse and confessed to her crime. Defendant Huong stated that she was blinded by the large sum of money and therefore trafficked the two victims to China.

The defendant admitted that he and Ms. Th. had been in a relationship for a time. After successfully selling his girlfriend, the defendant returned to his hometown, married another woman, and had three children. Huong lived in the local area as if nothing had happened until the victim returned to the country and filed a complaint with the police.

In the presence of the victims, the defendant bowed his head and offered an apology. However, the human trafficker's apologies could not alleviate the humiliation the two girls had endured.

According to the victims' accounts, only after being taken to China did they realize they had been deceived. Despite their refusal, they were sold one by one to local men to be their wives. The man who bought Ms. Kh. lived in a mountainous area, facing difficult living conditions. Fearing she might escape, her husband and his family restricted her from going outside.

After being sold into slavery for nearly 10 years, Ms. Kh. gave birth to two children. Life became easier for her after having them. However, Kh. always longed to return to her family and loved ones.

As for Ms. Th.'s family, since their daughter was tricked and sold, relatives have searched everywhere. Ms. Th.'s father shared that at first, they thought their daughter had gone missing or been kidnapped. Out of love for his daughter, he hastily sold his pigs and chickens to raise funds for the search. After asking friends, he went to several neighboring communes to look for her. Knowing that Huong was his daughter's boyfriend, he contacted him to ask for information, but without success.

Some time later, the family learned that their daughter was in China, sold into marriage. Heartbroken that their young daughter had been sold, he tried to contact Th. It wasn't until 2020 that his daughter was finally reunited with her family.

Having gone through a major life event, the young woman suffered significant emotional trauma. To forget her humiliating past, she went to the northern provinces to make a living, working in a company. At the trial, the victims requested that the defendant compensate them 90 million VND.

The court determined that the defendant's criminal act was dangerous to society, directly infringing upon the freedom, honor, and dignity of women, treating women as commodities for exchange and sale to gain illicit profit, and therefore the defendant must bear criminal responsibility for her actions. The court sentenced Cut Kham Huong to 8 years in prison for the crime of "Human Trafficking". Regarding civil matters, the court ordered the defendant to compensate each victim 90 million VND.

Although the human traffickers have been punished, the victims' nearly 10 years of being trafficked and living in hardship in a foreign land remain a haunting memory. This case serves as a warning to women, especially young girls, to be vigilant against the deceptive tactic of promising "easy jobs with high pay" to avoid falling prey to unscrupulous individuals.

Tran Vu