For money, mother 'incites' daughter to marry abroad

On November 24, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of Luong Thi Thuy (born in 1988), residing in Chau Khe commune (Con Cuong) for the crime of "Human trafficking". The victim in the case, Ms. Luong Thi Hong N. (born in 1995, residing in Yen Na commune, Tuong Duong district) was absent from court.

Due to difficult family circumstances, Ms. Kha Thi Oanh discussed with her daughter, Ms. N., about going to China to work. Ms. Oanh went to Thuy's mother's house to ask her to take her daughter to China. Although she knew that going to a foreign country would only get her husband, Ms. Oanh still agreed.

Defendant Luong Thi Thuy at the trial. Photo: Tran Vu

After receiving a phone call from her mother, Thuy contacted her younger sister, Luong Thi Tien, who was currently married in China. Knowing that N. had a small child, Tien said she could not go. However, Mrs. Oanh still wanted her daughter to go to China, and she would raise her young grandchild. Therefore, Tien agreed to take N. to China. On February 4, 2014, Mrs. Oanh called Tien and asked: "If N. goes to China to get married, how much money will the family get?". Tien replied that the family would receive a dowry of 120 million VND.

On the morning of February 6, Thuy and N. took a bus to Mong Cai (Quang Ninh). There, Thuy handed N. over to a man directed by Tien and then returned home. N. was taken to China and stayed at Tien's house for 14 days. At this time, Tien discovered that N. was more than 4 months pregnant. Therefore, Tien called Ms. Oanh and said that she would only pay 105 million VND because N. was pregnant. Ms. Oanh agreed to the amount.

Tien then sold N. to a Chinese man for 195 million VND. A month later, Tien sent Thuy 125 million VND. Following Tien's instructions, Thuy gave Ms. Oanh's family 105 million VND, and Thuy took 20 million VND. In May 2019, Ms. N. fled back to Vietnam. After learning that Thuy had sold herself to a husband for profit, on April 27, 2020, Ms. N. went to the police station in Tuong Duong district to report Luong Thi Thuy.

At the trial, defendant Thuy stated that she “helped” because Ms. N. and her family repeatedly asked her to take her to China. The defendant stated that she was not aware that this was a violation of the law. Considering the entire case, the panel sentenced Luong Thi Thuy to 5 years in prison for human trafficking.