Girl throws acid on female student, blames her lover

Accused of masterminding the acid attack on her roommate after failing to mend her homosexual relationship, Quyen continued to blame her boyfriend.

On July 24, after three months of additional investigation, Go Vap District People's Court reopened the trial of Truong Thi Kieu Quyen (22 years old), Nguyen Dinh Thanh Tam (21 years old, Quyen's lover) and Pham Hoang Long (20 years old) for the crime of Intentional Infliction of Injury.

The defendants committed the acid attack on two female college students in Go Vap district more than a year ago.

Quyen still does not admit to committing the crime with Tam.

Investigation results determined that Quyen and Duyen (21 years old) had homosexual feelings since they were in their hometown of Phan Thiet. When they came to Saigon to study, they both stayed with a group of friends. Around August 2015, they had a conflict with their friends and Quyen moved out.

During this time, Tam had a one-sided love for Quyen. Although Quyen did not accept his feelings, seeing that she was sad because her friends had "stopped hanging out with her", the young man still often took her to the rented room to mend their relationship.

After being rejected many times by her old friend, Quyen discussed with Tam a plan to hire someone to throw acid on Huong (a female student who often went with Duyen). When Duyen took care of her friend, she would come to help to win her over.

The two went to buy acid together but the store owner refused to sell it to them. The second time Quyen went alone, using the excuse that she was a student who needed acid for an experiment, so she was able to buy it. Tam then diluted and stored the chemicals in Quyen's room.

On March 28, 2016, the couple went to the school gate to wait for Duyen and Huong to finish school. However, on the way, the acid corroded the plastic bottle and spilled out, so the plan was "broken".

That night, Quyen texted Vu (unknown background) online to ask him to join Tam in throwing acid. He introduced Long, offered a salary of one million VND, and gave him an advance of 200,000 VND.

On the morning of March 30, 2016, Tam removed the license plate, brought a bottle of acid and chili powder, and drove Long to the college gate. Around noon, when he saw two female students riding home, Tam accelerated and chased after them, causing Long to throw acid on Huong's face. Duyen, who was sitting behind, only had her clothes burned.

Receiving the news from Tam, Quyen ran to the scene with the locals to take the victims to the emergency room. Huong suffered 75% disability and lost one eye.

In court, Tam and Long admitted to the crimes as accused and expressed remorse. Tam said that because he loved Quyen so much and saw that his girlfriend was always sad, he agreed to help her mend her relationship with Duyen. "At first, the defendant said he would use boiling water to splash her, but Quyen said that if left for too long, the water would cool down. Quyen suggested splashing acid and went to buy it herself," he said.

However, Quyen denied being the mastermind, did not throw acid on the victims, only introduced Long to Tam to do it together. Regarding her confession at the investigation agency, Quyen said that she was forced to confess and beaten. "The investigator also showed the defendant Tam being beaten to get her statement. Because the defendant felt sorry for Tam, she could not bear to confess," Quyen said.

Called in for confrontation, Tam affirmed that he was not beaten or forced to confess.

Victim Huong wore a mask and was brought to court by relatives.

The panel of judges spent a lot of time analyzing and encouraging Quyen to be honest. The presiding judge cited that the video recording the defendant's confession at the investigation agency did not show any forced confession or beating. "The defendants' actions caused the victims to suffer physical pain, and not being honest caused them many times more pain. The evidence in the file is clear, if there is a mistake, it should be acknowledged," the presiding judge said.

Only when the prosecutor cited testimony and analyzed the evidence did Quyen admit to the alleged behavior.

When invited, Duyen said that because Quyen had many bad qualities, the people in the room did not let her stay with them. She did not think that Quyen would take revenge because of that.

Having the last word, Tam and Long apologized to the victim's family and asked the family to compensate Huong more. Quyen also burst into tears and apologized to the victim and her family.

Arriving at court wearing a mask and sunglasses covering her face, Huong choked up when the judge called her up. The female student said she forgave Tam and Long because they had no conflict with her and had repented. She encouraged the defendants "not to torment their conscience, to reform themselves and soon make amends with their parents". As for Quyen, she did not accept the apology.

"If your family can't forgive you for your actions, how can I forgive you for what you've done to me and my family?" the girl said, her voice breaking.

After many hours of deliberation, the panel sentenced Quyen to 7 years, Tam to 6 years, and Long to 5 years and 6 months in prison for the crime of Intentional Infliction of Injury; forced to compensate the victim 900 million VND./.

According to VNE