Seeing his girlfriend off, a young man from Nghe An was seriously beaten by a village boy at night.

One day at the end of May, young man Nguyen The Long (born 2001, residing in Nghia Xuan commune, Quy Hop district) and a few relatives went to Nghe An Provincial People's Court to attend the appeal hearing in which he was the victim.

Long said that from a healthy young man, in just one night he became sickly and weak. Every time the weather changed, he felt pain and tired. Moreover, the damage to his brain made him not as agile as his friends.

Recalling the sad story, Long said that there was no conflict between him and the group of young men from Chau Cuong commune, Quy Hop district. However, just once, while taking two female friends home in Chau Cuong commune, Long was stopped and beaten by a group of men from the neighboring village for no reason. Although he was lucky to keep his life, Long's health was severely affected.

The incident happened on the night of February 2, 2019, that day Long drove two female friends home. When going to the gate of Nhoi village, Chau Cuong commune, Long saw a group of young men including: Dao Van Tai (born in 1998), Nguyen Van Dat (born in 1998), Quan Vi Than (born in 2004), Ngan Van Hung (born in 2002), Quang Canh Tai (born in 2004) standing around. This young man did not cause any conflict or hatred but quietly walked past.

Seeing a strange man carrying a girl from his village, Tai told his group: "Hey, when that guy comes out, stop him and scare him for fun." Tai's suggestion was enthusiastically responded by his group. About 10 minutes after Long returned, Sam Minh Hop stopped the car, asked where he was from, and then beat him. Seeing that, Tai encouraged his friends to beat him up while taking out his phone to record it "for fun."

Being beaten for no reason, Long did not dare to fight back but only defended. When Long fell into the ditch, the subjects stopped beating him. After that, Hop told Long to kneel down and apologize. Being forced, Long knelt down on the street and apologized to be left alone. However, this group of young men still did not forgive Long. When two other young men happened to pass by and added the words "keep hitting me", Dat and Tai used a wooden stick to repeatedly hit Long's head and body until the stick broke and then threw it away.

Defendant Sam Minh Hop at the trial. Photo: Tran Vu

The beating made Long stagger. Hop and Tai saw this and helped him up on his motorbike, then Long drove home by himself. The victim went home and slept until the morning of February 3, 2019, when he fell into a coma, but fortunately his family discovered him in time and took him to the hospital for emergency treatment from February 3 to April 5. After being discharged from the hospital, Mr. Long filed a request for a disability assessment and a criminal case to be initiated. The authorities determined that Mr. Nguyen The Long suffered a traumatic brain injury, with a disability rate of 43%.

Afterwards, the defendants Dao Van Tai, Nguyen Van Dat, Quan Vi Than, Ngan Van Hung, and Quang Canh Tai were brought to trial for the crime of “Intentionally causing injury” with different sentences. Sam Minh Hop was wanted by the police because he fled. After Sam Minh Hop surrendered, the People’s Court of Quy Hop district brought the defendant to trial for the crime of Intentionally causing injury with a sentence of 5 years and 6 months in prison. The defendant filed an appeal to reduce the sentence.

At the appeal court, defendant Hop expressed remorse. In the presence of the panel of judges, Hop turned down and apologized to the victim with sincere words. However, Long did not accept and requested the court to judge according to the law.

During the trial, Long repeatedly held his head with both hands, grimacing. With a long scar running down his head, the young man said it was the result of a beating from a group of boys from a neighboring village. At that time, Long had to be hospitalized for a long time in a coma. The amount of money that his family had to spend on Long's treatment cost hundreds of millions of dong.

Up to now, although he has been discharged from the hospital, Long's health has not fully recovered. The worst thing is that every time the weather changes, this young man's head aches and aches. Therefore, during this time, this young man has not been able to do anything but mainly stay at home to stabilize his health. At the age of 19, when his peers have left their hometowns to go to the city to study at university or learn a trade, Long has only stayed at home. All because of the unprovoked beating by a group of young men from the neighboring village.

At the end of the trial, the appellate court partially accepted the appeal of defendant Sam Minh Hop, amending the first instance sentence from 5 years and 6 months in prison to 5 years in prison for the crime of Intentional Infliction of Injury.