Prosecution of 2 nannies for abuse, causing death of 17-month-old boy
The City People's Procuracy has just issued an indictment to prosecute Nguyen Thi An (born 1993) and Nguyen Thi Lanh (born 1992) for murder.
This is 2nannyNguyen Thi An (born in 1993) and Nguyen Thi Lanh (born in 1992, both living in Phu Xuyen, Hanoi) were accused of causing the death of a 17-month-old boy (in Van Diem commune, Thuong Tin district, Hanoi) earlier this year.
According to the indictment, the defendants An and Lanh did not have any professional qualifications in education, but around November 2022, they decided to open a childcare class together to earn money. They rented a house in Van Diem village, Van Diem commune, Thuong Tin district, Hanoi to use as a place to take care of children.
In mid-February 2023, due to being busy with work, Ms. Phung Thi T. (born in 1981, in Van Diem commune, Thuong Tin district, Hanoi) sent her son, Pham Tien D. (born September 11, 2021) to An and Lanh's childcare facility.
At around 7:30 a.m. on February 23, Ms. T. dropped off her child. An picked up D. and took her to class. By 9:30 a.m. that same day, the class had a total of 7 children, all of whom were taken to their bedrooms by An and Lanh for supervision.
At this time, D. ran out, stood at the door and cried. Angry, Lanh ran out, picked up the baby, took him to the bedroom, then threw him onto the foam mattress on the floor, causing D.'s head to hit the foam mattress.
The baby continued to cry, so Lanh slapped D. twice in the face and yelled at him not to cry. The defendant left D. lying there and went to the chair. Seeing that D. was still crying, An went to where the baby was lying on the mattress and kicked the baby in the stomach and chest.
After being kicked, D. turned to lie on his right side, but An continued to use his right foot to step on the child's left ear 1-2 times. After that, An and Lanh let D. stop crying and play with his friends.
At around 4:30 p.m. the same day, Ms. T. came to pick up her child and saw that both of D.'s ears were bruised. The mother asked the nanny the reason, and Lanh said that D. was playing and fell into the basket of toys.
Because she believed what Lanh said, Ms. T. took her child home. That evening, D. vomited and regurgitated. On February 24 and 25, 2023, Ms. T. and her husband continued to send their child to An and Lanh's care facility.
Due to personal matters, Lanh took time off from looking after the children on the 24th, 25th and 26th of February. On the morning of the 26th, Ms. T. took her child to class and left him with An. At around 9:30 a.m. the same day, An saw that D. was crying, so he got angry and used both hands to pick up the child, threw him on the floor and used his right foot to kick D. in the stomach.
When he turned around, An saw D. unconscious, vomiting, and scratching his face, so he called Lanh to inform her about the child's condition.
When receiving An's call, Lanh instructed her colleague to get water for D. to drink. The child did not drink, so An poured a glass of water on the child's face and slapped him in the face to wake him up. Because the child did not wake up, An called Ms. T. to come to class.
The mother arrived and saw her child was cold, with stiff limbs, closed eyes, and wet clothes, so she and An took D. to a medical facility.
At 4:15 p.m. on March 2, D. died at home. Forensic examination concluded that the cause of D.'s death was irreversible respiratory failure due to severe traumatic brain injury.
During the investigation of the case, the families of the accused Nguyen Thi An and Nguyen Thi Lanh compensated Ms. Phung Thi T. (legal representative of the victim) 240 million VND (of which, the family of the accused Lanh compensated 25 million VND and the family of the accused An compensated 215 million VND).
Currently, Ms. T. does not request defendant An to pay civil compensation and has filed a petition for leniency for An. Ms. T. requests defendant Lanh to continue to pay compensation of 300 million VND.
