The crime of the child towards the 'drunk' father

Last weekend, Duong Xuan Truong (21 years old, in Soc Son district) was brought to the first instance trial at the Hanoi People's Court, on charges ofKilling.The victim was Mr. Duong Xuan Chien (48 years old), the defendant's father.

At such a young age, Truong, standing before the witness stand, made his mother sitting in the back row feel pain. She occasionally sobbed when her husband's grave was still green, now she witnessed the scene of her eldest son being in trouble with the law, being prosecuted and facing the death penalty. Her face was filled with worry.

Due to his family's limited financial resources, Truong had to drop out of school early to help his parents when he was just entering high school. During this time, Truong also witnessed his father frequently getting drunk and neglecting his responsibility to take care of the family's finances.

Life was difficult, with the stress that followed every time Mr. Chien got drunk, making the family "suffocate". Truong and his mother often advised him to quit drinking, but Mr. Chien could not quit. While his mother endured, Truong started hitting and punching his father.

But Mr. Chien was still the same, continuing to get drunk. At noon in late February 2018, seeing his father sleeping soundly from drunkenness, Truong finished cooking rice and woke him up: "Dad, after you finish eating, leave the dishes and chopsticks, I'll wash them later."

Leaving home, going out until the afternoon, seeing that his father was still drunk and sleeping, Truong got angry and kicked his father repeatedly in the head and shoulder. After that, he went to bed and slept, leaving Mr. Chien's mouth bleeding.

That same evening, Truong's mother and younger brother came home from work in the fields and saw Mr. Chien lying motionless on the floor, so they questioned him. In response, the unfilial son turned around and kicked his father in the head two more times, saying, "Mom always takes Dad's side."

At this time, Mr. Chien's wife saw that blood was still flowing from her husband's mouth, so she used a tissue to wipe it away and turned to scold her son. At the same time, a neighbor passing by intervened to stop Truong and his mother from arguing loudly.

Seeing Mr. Chien lying motionless on the floor, this neighbor came to shake him but seeing no response, urged him to take the victim to the emergency room.

By 11pm that same day, Mr. Chien died of severe brain trauma. The next morning, Truong went to the police station to surrender.

Similar to his testimony at the investigation agency, in court Truong only admitted to kicking his father "a few times". However, the presiding judge announced that, after examining the body, the authorities determined that the victim suffered multiple injuries caused by external force.

A juror in the trial panel said that the case was a tragedy for Truong’s family. After many years sitting on the jury, witnessing heartbreaking cases, she believed that members must behave properly, because after all, Mr. Chien was the defendant’s father.

Hearing her story, Truong fell silent and repented, while the mother sitting in the row below choked up. She asked for her son to have a way to live so he could return to his family soon.

At the end of the first instance trial, the court sentenced Truong to life in prison./.