The bitter confession of a "mine mother" who tricked and sold two mountain girls

40 years old, but Luong Thi Tinh (born in 1981), residing in Tuong Duong district (Nghe An) looks older than her age. Perhaps a life of wandering and wandering everywhere has made this woman become callous. The day she was brought to court to be tried for the crime of "Human trafficking", Tinh sat still, his face showing no emotion.

Born and raised in a mountainous district, but compared to his friends, Tinh was given a good education by his family, but his love life was bumpy and difficult. Nearly 30 years old, while his friends have settled down, Tinh is still single.

Luong Thi Tinh in court.

After much deliberation, Tinh decided to give herself to a man in the village. But when he learned that she was pregnant, her lover denied responsibility and did not move forward with the marriage. Tinh gave birth to a child and became a single mother for a long time. Not long after, Tinh was found pregnant for the second time, but Tinh herself did not know who the father was among the men who had been with her.

The second time Tinh gave birth, she was still alone like the first time. In the following months, due to not having a stable job and the financial burden of raising 2 children, Tinh fell into a deadlock. After a period of hesitation, Tinh decided to send her children to relatives and go to China. At that time, her second child was not yet 4 years old.

In a foreign land, after a period of working as a hired hand, Tinh married a local man. A loveless marriage with language and cultural differences made it difficult for Tinh to get along with her husband's family. During her days as a daughter-in-law in a foreign land, Tinh somewhat understood the hardships of Vietnamese brides.

However, instead of speaking out to warn, Tinh had a dark idea. Knowing that the demand for “buying wives” among local men was very high, the idea of ​​carrying out human trafficking suddenly flashed through this woman’s mind.

Around October 2016, Luong Thi Tinh received a phone call from Xen Thi Hong (a native of Nghe An, married to a Chinese man) discussing sending two girls to China to be sold for marriage. The two girls, Vi Thi May H. and Quang Thi C., residing in Tuong Duong district, were promised by Hong to be taken to China to find easy work with high salaries, so they agreed without knowing that they had been deceived from the beginning.

Following Hong’s instructions, the two mountain girls were smuggled into China. In the foreign country, each victim was sold by Tinh as a wife for more than 60,000 yuan (more than 180 million VND). However, H. was later returned by her husband’s family after being discovered taking birth control pills, and C. fled, so Tinh had to return the entire amount, and also had to compensate for a breach of contract.

The first failed “deal” did not make Tinh give up this sinful path of making money. Tinh continued to sell the victim H. to another man for 45,000 yuan and pocketed nearly 20 million VND.

Tinh spent all the money she earned from selling her fellow countrymen on personal expenses. Tinh then fled back to Vietnam. One of the two victims who were sold by Tinh also fled back to Vietnam at the end of 2019, while the other is still wandering abroad. In early 2020, Luong Thi Tinh was arrested by the police after the victim H. fled back to Vietnam and reported the crime.

Luong Thi Tinh shed tears when talking about her children. Photo: Tran Vu

In the witness stand, Tinh did not deny her crime but admitted to taking the girls to China to sell them for money. The defendant admitted that she knew her actions were against the law but asked the jury to consider a lighter sentence. The female defendant recounted her difficult and unfortunate circumstances. “I am raising two children alone, with no one to take care of them, and am currently living with my younger brother while my parents have passed away,” Tinh told the jury.

Only when mentioning her children did the defendant's eyes well up with tears. During the deliberation that day, Tinh sat alone because no one attended the courtroom. When asked to talk, Tinh answered in a small voice: "Since the day I was arrested, my two young children have had to live with my younger brother. Due to the pandemic and geographical distance, I have not been able to see my children for a long time." Tinh shared that she felt guilty towards her children. When asked, "What is your biggest worry when your children do not have a father and now their mother has been arrested?" At this time, Tinh tearfully admitted: "Honestly, I am afraid that my children will be tricked and sold abroad. Every time I am afraid like that, I regret my actions."

Although the defendant regretted and realized her mistake, it was too late. For the crime of "Human trafficking", defendant Luong Thi Tinh was sentenced to 6 years and 6 months in prison. As for the woman named Hong, because she had passed away, the investigation agency did not prosecute her.

Crime must be punished, that is the law. Hopefully, the two young children will be the motivation for Tinh to realize his mistakes, reform well and soon return to rebuild his life.