Because alcohol kills people, leaving children orphaned.

(Baonghean) - On the morning of January 9th, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened the first-instance criminal trial to hear the murder case against Tran Dinh Quyen (born in 1968, residing in Xuan Lam hamlet, Hung Tien commune, Nam Dan district, Nghe An province).

On August 2, 2011, due to a pre-existing conflict, Quyen and Hieu got into an argument when Quyen met Nguyen Van Hieu (born in 1984) at a bar. Others intervened, and Quyen left. A short time later, Quyen returned to the bar carrying a knife to "settle the score" with Hieu. People noticed Quyen was carrying a weapon and intervened in time.

Quyền waited outside with a knife. When Hiếu stopped his motorbike to relieve himself, Quyền ran over, and the two continued arguing. Hiếu punched Quyền in the face, whereupon Quyền immediately pulled out the sharp knife he was carrying and stabbed Hiếu in the stomach. The victim, Nguyễn Văn Hiếu, was rushed to the hospital, but due to a punctured liver and severe blood loss, he died shortly afterward.

After committing the crime, Quyen fled the area. However, knowing he could not escape the law, on August 6, 2010, Tran Dinh Quyen surrendered to the investigating agency.

At the trial, Tran Dinh Quyen sincerely confessed to all his crimes. Quyen's family also promptly compensated the victim's family with 30 million VND. The victim's family representative also requested a reduced sentence for the defendant. The court sentenced Tran Dinh Quyen to 10 years in prison and ordered him to compensate the victim's family with 70 million VND and provide a monthly allowance of 300,000 VND to the victim's mother.

The trial ended, but Hieu's elderly father remained standing silently in the courtroom. His heart was still heavy with the pain of losing his son, and although he had requested a reduced sentence for the defendant, the echoes of his son's farewell calls weighed heavily on his soul.

Nestled beside the police officers assisting with the trial was a small boy. Although in 9th grade, Tran Dinh D. – the son of defendant Tran Dinh Quyen – looked like a primary school child, dark-skinned, with a haggard and sad expression. Allowed to approach his father, D. shed tears, sitting silently, his eyes filled with sorrow.

The courtroom was filled with sorrow as the lawyer appointed to defend Tran Dinh Quyen recounted the pitiful circumstances of D. and his son. His wife had gone to Taiwan and remarried there, and for the past seven years, the two of them had relied on each other in a dilapidated house with no valuable possessions, while his nearly 80-year-old mother was bedridden with illness. Their poverty made Quyen feel inferior, and when he drank alcohol, his neighbor's constant criticism of his betrayed husband caused him to lose all reason.

Now, in the dilapidated, desolate house of Quyen and his father in Nam Dan, Quyen's unmarried older sister has taken him in. Although they are poor, at least the orphaned child D has someone to rely on. When asked about his mother, D shook his head, not wanting to talk about her, but two tears still rolled down his prematurely aged face.

Alcohol drove the poor man, Quyen, to lose his mind and commit murder. Alcohol also separated Quyen's orphaned child from his father. Hopefully, after 10 years in prison, Quyen will reform well and return home soon to fill the void and coldness for his son...

Dam Phuong