Rumors of child kidnapping in Nghe An are baseless

Insider denies

These days, the streets in Long Son ward (Thai Hoa town) are empty of children playing as usual. The iron gates on both sides of the road are tightly closed, and inside are suspicious looks when seeing strangers walking on the street.

Like other households, Ms. Hoang Thi Hien (Block 5) has not dared to take her eyes off her three grandchildren for many days. As soon as she picked her grandchildren up from school, she quickly closed the gate. Her children work far away, and Ms. Hien has been taking care of her grandchildren alone for many years. "If they were really kidnapped, I wouldn't know how to explain it to them," Ms. Hien said.

Mrs. Hoang Thi Hien said that for many days now she has not dared to take her eyes off her grandchildren.

Ms. Hien is one of two households cited in the notice of Tay Hieu commune and Long Son ward authorities about suspected child kidnapping to warn people.

Mrs. Hien said that at around 7:30 p.m. on April 1, she had just finished eating when she heard her 3-year-old grandson calling out, “Grandma.” She rushed out onto the street and saw her grandson sitting on a stranger’s motorbike. “He was sitting in front. The stranger was holding him down with one hand,” she said.

Mrs. Hien quickly asked, “Who are you that you carried my child into the car?” The man said, “I was plowing and got lost. The boy climbed into the car by himself.” “I immediately rushed forward, grabbed the child, and pulled him out of the car. At that moment, the eldest child in the house shouted, “Grandma, be careful, they might kidnap my brother,” Mrs. Hien said. After hearing this, the man quickly started the car and ran away.

Thinking that the man driving the scooter over 30 years old intended to kidnap her grandchild, Ms. Hien did not report to the authorities or the police but told her neighbor. This neighbor then called the ward police to report the incident. No one witnessed the incident except her and her grandchildren. “At that time, I was so panicked that I did not shout. The neighbors were having dinner so they did not know,” Ms. Hien said. That evening, the Long Son ward police came to see Ms. Hien to record the incident.

The location where Mrs. Hien believes the man was about to kidnap her grandchild.

Long Son ward authorities said that a day later, a similar incident was also recorded in the locality. According to a document sent to the hamlets and schools by Long Son ward police, “on the evening of April 2, at the house of a resident in Tan Long block, a subject rode a motorbike and met and talked to two children playing in front of the house. After being discovered by the family, the subject left”. Also about this incident, in the document “propaganda for people to be vigilant” of Tay Hieu commune, there was an additional detail stated that “a stranger approached a child and lured him to buy candy…”.

Meanwhile, speaking to Nghe An Newspaper reporter, Ms. Le Thi Thuy Huong, the children's mother, said that the family did not confirm whether or not there was a kidnapping. Currently, her two children are 7 years old and the other is over 5 years old.

“No adults witnessed that day, but only heard my child tell the story. She said that her two sisters were playing in front of the house when a man stopped his car and asked, “Are you lost? Do you need a ride?” After she refused, the man asked, “Where are you going, Mom and Dad?” She said, “Dad is in the house,” and the man left,” said Ms. Huong.

Ms. Huong said that the family did not think of kidnapping children after hearing her daughter's story.

Huong and her husband thought that this could be an acquaintance or a passerby asking for information. They did not think of the suspicion of child kidnapping. The family did not report it to the police, but a neighbor who heard the story called to report it. “I think they are making a big deal out of it. Since that day, the police and the government have often come to ask for information. My husband and I are so tired. We still have to go to work, where do we have time to talk?”, the woman shook her head in disappointment.

Inappropriate propaganda

The leader of Long Son Ward Police said that after receiving the report from the people, the police came directly to take statements. However, the police also said that there was no basis to confirm the kidnapping of children. However, the ward police still advised the ward authorities to broadcast on loudspeakers to warn people to be vigilant. At the same time, the police also sent documents to the blocks and schools for propaganda.

“We only inform the locality of such recorded incidents. So that people can take precautions,” said the leader of Long Son Ward Police.

Document sent to blocks and schools of Long Son Ward Police.

One day after Long Son ward issued the document, on April 4, Tay Hieu commune authorities also issued a document to hamlets and schools with even more serious content. Although no related suspicions have been recorded in this commune.

The document signed by Mr. Nguyen Dinh Chau - Chairman of Tay Hieu Commune People's Committee stated that currently in Thai Hoa town, there are some groups of people using sophisticated tricks to approach children and showing signs of kidnapping children.

“Their modus operandi is usually to go with two or more people on motorbikes or cars to find households with small children but no one to look after them or only elderly people to look after them, the house has no locked gate, no camera surveillance system; they even wait at the gates of kindergartens and primary schools to pretend to be acquaintances of the children's parents to pick them up…”, the document stated.

Citing two incidents that occurred in Long Son ward, Tay Hieu commune authorities affirmed that "when approaching, the subjects showed behaviors such as asking if anyone in the family was home, enticing the children to go buy gifts, and carrying the children into the car to escape."

To proactively prevent, detect and stop the above behavior, Tay Hieu Commune People's Committee requests hamlets and school principals to use various forms such as loudspeaker announcements and hamlet meetings to help people understand the methods of operation of this type of person and take measures to protect their children. If there is any suspicion, call the commune police chief...

Tay Hieu commune's document added some details, although there were no suspicious cases in the area.

Discussing this issue, Chairman of Tay Hieu Commune People's Committee said that the written warning propaganda came from the advice of the commune police. "I find the propaganda very effective. People on social networks share a lot," said Mr. Chau.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Minh Thang - Deputy Chief of Thai Hoa Town Police said that up to now, there is no basis to conclude about child kidnapping. "Here, only Mrs. Hien told the story like that, there are no other witnesses. And she judged that it was child kidnapping", Lieutenant Colonel Thang said and said that the local government's propaganda to make people vigilant is good, however, the form of propaganda and the language in the document are not appropriate.

“The incident involves human life, so the authorities are also worried. However, they may not have properly assessed the situation, and the document review process was not strict. I think we should sympathize, because their actions come from good intentions,” said the Deputy Chief of Police of Thai Hoa Town.

According to the reporter's investigation, in Thai Hoa town, there have been no recorded cases of child kidnapping.

Recently, many people have been attacked out of nowhere just because they were suspected of kidnapping children, some cases even leading to heartbreaking murders. In Long An province, more than a month ago, a 26-year-old father was stabbed to death while playing with his child in the park just because an old woman mistook him for a child kidnapper and shouted...

In Nghe An, in early March, Ms. Nguyen Thi Bao (52 years old, Nghi Loc district) was also suddenly attacked by a group of people who broke into her house, falsely accusing her of kidnapping children and beating her. The incident was caused by the family of a 10-year-old girl who misunderstood Ms. Bao as kidnapping a child when the child came to her house to beg for food. While beating Ms. Bao, the group filmed and posted it on social media, accusing her of "kidnapping children".