Injecting HIV-infected blood into ex-wife because of 'broken relationship'

On September 28, the People's Court of Do Luong district, Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial to try the case of "Intentionally transmitting HIV to others" that occurred in Nhan Son commune, Do Luong district.

According to the indictment, at about 7:00 a.m. on March 17, 2022, Nguyen Ba Ba used a syringe containing another person's HIV-infected blood, drove a motorbike to chase Ms. Nguyen Thi Long from hamlet 1, Nhan Son commune (Do Luong) to the area of ​​Binh Cat hamlet, Minh Son commune (Do Luong) and stabbed the syringe, injecting HIV-infected blood into Ms. Nguyen Thi Long's body, causing 8% body injury..

Defendant Nguyen Ba Ba. Photo: Truong Thi Duyen

According to Nguyen Ba Ba's testimony, on November 26, 2021, Ms. Nguyen Thi Long filed for divorce from Nguyen Ba Ba and was accepted by the People's Court of Do Luong district. However, after that, because he had repeatedly wanted to reunite his family but failed, Nguyen Ba Ba thought aboutrevenge.

To take revenge on his “ex-wife” for not rekindling their “old love”, Nguyen Ba Ba thought of taking blood from an HIV-infected person to inject into Ms. Long so that she would also be infected with HIV. Thinking and doing, Ba immediately remembered Ms. L., also in Do Luong district, who was infected with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Syndrome) and is currently being treated with ARV drugs at Do Luong District General Hospital, from 2010 until now.

Dad called Ms. L., lied that he knew an ethnic man living in Saigon who could cure HIV, and told Ms. L. to go to the commune health station tomorrow to get some blood for Dad, so that he could take it to Ho Chi Minh City to have this man test and cure Ms. L. Hearing what Dad said, Ms. L. immediately agreed because she thought that if there was still a chance, she might be able to cure the disease.

On the morning of March 17, 2022, after collecting blood from Ms. L., at around 6:00 a.m., Ba drove a motorbike (with the mirrors replaced and the license plate removed), disguised with a yellow-green shirt, to the banyan tree area of ​​Nhan Son commune, waiting. When Ms. Long drove her motorbike past, Ba accelerated from behind, approached the right side of Ms. Long's motorbike and stabbed the syringe with HIV-containing blood into Ms. Long's right buttock. Seeing that there was still blood in the syringe, Ba chased after her to continue injecting, but because Ms. Long was driving too fast, Ba could not catch up and then turned around and ran away.

Discovering pain in her buttocks and suspecting an injection, Ms. Long was taken to the hospital for examination by her family.

On the morning of March 18, 2022, knowing that his actions would be exposed, Ba went to Do Luong District Police to surrender. After learning that he had been injected with blood containing HIV into her body, Ms. Long was transferred to Bach Mai Hospital (Hanoi) to be injected with anti-HIV exposure drugs.

At the trial, Nguyen Ba Ba honestly confessed his crime and said that because he was still too attached to his ex-wife, when Long broke up with him and found out that his ex-wife now had a new lover, jealousy arose in his heart and he could not control his emotions, leading to the crime.

Considering the defendant's criminal behavior, the panel sentenced defendant Nguyen Ba Ba to 38 months in prison for the crime of "Intentionally transmitting HIV to others", compensate Ms. Long for mental and health damage in the amount of 13 million VND.