She sold her 14 year old sister
One day in early 2024, Ms. Ven Me B. (47 years old), residing in Bao Nam commune, Ky Son district (Nghe An province) was present at the People’s Court of Nghe An province to attend the trial of the case of “Trafficking of people under 16 years old”. ” and my child is the defendant. Worth mentioning, the victim in the case was also her daughter.
In the courtroom, defendant Ven Thi Hoai (21 years old, residing in Bao Nam commune) did not dare raise her head to look at her mother following defrauding her younger brother into selling her to China.
Defendant Ven Thi Hoai and her accomplices at trial.
Hoai is the 4th child in a family of 8 siblings. Due to difficult circumstances, Hoai only finished 7th grade when he dropped out of school. To help his family earn money, Hoai went to a northern province to work as a worker. While working here, Hoai got to know Cut Thi Ngoc (27 years old), residing in Nam Nhoong commune, Que Phong district (Nghe An province). After quitting their jobs, the two still kept in touch.
Around October 2022, Ngoc texted Hoai, telling her that her mother was living in China and asked to find someone to bring her here to sell her to get married. If you send a person to the other side of the border, you will get 30 million VND in wages, and a family with children who agrees to go to China will get 120 million VND.
At this time, because he owed money, Hoai thought of his younger sister, who was just over 14 years old. Hoai discussed with Ngoc regarding selling her sister to China and borrowed 4.5 million VND to pay off debt and travel expenses.
On June 29, 2023, Hoai invited her younger sister Ven Thi K. (14 years and 3 months) to “go work with her as a worker”. Being young, K. did not dare to go and said, “Mom, let me go.” When she heard her eldest daughter say she would take her to work as a worker, Mrs. B., because of difficult circumstances, agreed.
At the same time, a neighbor came to the house to visit. Knowing that Hoai and her sister were going to work as workers, he asked Hoai to take his nephew there. Hearing that, Hoai agreed.
After that, Hoai called Ngoc to announce that he had found two people to take them to China and asked Ngoc to pay 60 million VND in wages and 240 million VND to give to the families. After reaching agreement, the two sides discussed how to bring the victims to the other side of the border. Accordingly, Hoai will take the victim to the border area, and Ngoc will be responsible for bringing the “prey” to his mother.
On the followingnoon of July 1, 2023, Hoai took a bus to take the two victims out of the locality. However, when the passenger bus went to Chieu Luu commune, Ky Son district, it was discovered by the police force. The two victims were rescued and Hoai was arrested. After hearing that her accomplices had fallen into the net, Cut Thi Ngoc went to the police and surrendered.
Mother’s pain
Before the testimony, the defendants admitted the crime. The two defendants argued that because they were ethnic minorities, uneducated, and had limited legal awareness, they did not know that the act of sending people to China for marriage was a violation of the law.
Mrs. B. was sad at the trial.
At the trial, the jury analyzed so that the two defendants clearly understood that their actions were prohibited by law. At the time of being sold, the victim was just over 14 years old. The actions of the two defendants were particularly serious, committing acts once morest many people. Especially defendant Hoai, for money he sold his own younger brother.
Fortunately, the criminal acts of the two defendants were promptly discovered and stopped by the authorities, so no consequences occurred. However, the jury believes that it is necessary to give a strict sentence, suitable for the criminal acts of the two defendants as well as having a general deterrent and preventive effect.
The jury also analyzed Ms. B.’s responsibility when she agreed to let her eldest daughter take her to work as a worker because at this time the child was over 14 years old. At this age, children should be going to school, not working as workers and then almost being sold to the other side of the border.
Listening to the court’s analysis, Mrs. B. sat quietly. This mother used the excuse of having many children and poverty to explain why she agreed to let her two sisters go to work. She also asked the court to “release Hoai” because there was no one working at home. However, her plea cannot change the severity of the law.
The jury determined that the defendants’ actions were dangerous to society. The defendants committed the crime with the aggravating circumstance of committing a crime once morest a person under 16 years old. After considering aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the Trial Panel sentenced defendants Cut Thi Ngoc and Ven Thi Hoai to 12 years in prison each.
