The plea of ​​a mother whose daughter sold her younger sister to a foreign land

Early in the morning, Mrs. Ven Me B. (47 years old, residing in Bao Nam commune, Ky Son, Nghe An ) along with her husband and some relatives were present at the court to participate in the case as the legal representative of the victim. The hardship and toil made the mother of 8 children look old and miserable.

Many times Mrs. Bu turned her eyes to look at the defendant Ven Thi Hoai (21 years old, living in Bao Nam commune). More than a year since her arrest, today mother and daughter met again, but Hoai did not dare to look up at her mother. This mountain girl had planned to sell her own younger brother...

Selling her younger sibling who was only 14 years older, Ven Thi Hoai cried many times in court (Photo: Hoang Lam).

Lack of money to pay debt, sold sister

According to records, Hoai and Cut Thi Ngoc (27 years old, residing in Nam Nhoong commune, Que Phong district, Nghe An province) met each other while working as factory workers in a northern province. After quitting their jobs, the two still kept in touch.

Around October 2022, Ngoc texted Hoai, saying that her mother was living in China and asked her to find someone to bring her here to sell her for a husband. If successful, Hoai would be paid 30 million VND, and the family whose child agreed to go to China would receive 120 million VND.

Being in debt, Hoai thought of his younger sister who was just over 14 years old and discussed with Ngoc about selling her to China. Hoai borrowed 4.5 million VND from Ngoc to pay off the debt and cover travel expenses.

On June 29, 2023, Hoai returned home and invited her younger sister Ven Thi K. (14 years and 3 months old) to "go work as a factory worker with me". Because she was still young, K. did not dare to go, telling her sister "I will only go if my mother lets me go".

Hearing her eldest daughter say she would send her youngest daughter to work as a factory worker, facing the poverty and many children of her family, Mrs. B. hesitated for a moment and then agreed. She thought, with her two daughters working as factory workers, the family would have two less mouths to feed, if they had a salary, they could send it back to their parents to raise their younger siblings... However, she did not expect that her nod almost caused a disaster, making her regret it for the rest of her life.

Ven Thi Hoai (left) and Cut Thi Ngoc colluded to trick and sell two victims, just over 14 years old, to marry Chinese men (Photo: Hoang Lam).

When Mrs. B. agreed to let her older daughter take her younger daughter to work as a factory worker, a neighbor also came to ask Hoai to take his granddaughter along.

Hoai called Ngoc to inform that he had found 2 people to take them to China and asked Ngoc to pay 60 million VND for the work and 240 million VND to give to the families.

The two sides discussed how to take the victims out of the locality to the Mong Cai border area ( Quang Ninh ) and hand them over to Ngoc. From here, Ngoc will be responsible for bringing the "goods" across the border to his mother.

At 2:00 p.m. on July 1, 2023, Hoai took a bus to take the two victims away from the area. However, when arriving at Cu village, Chieu Luu commune, Ky Son district, the police discovered Hoai's actions and successfully rescued the two children.

Two days later, knowing that Hoai was arrested, Cut Thi Ngoc went to the police to surrender.

The poor mother's innocent and pitiful plea

At the trial, the defendants confessed to the crimes as charged in the indictment. Both said that they were ethnic minorities, had not completed their education, and did not know that the act of sending people to China to be sold as husbands was a violation of the law.

The jury analyzed to make the two defendants understand that their actions were prohibited by law. At the time Hoai sold them, both victims were just over 14 years old.

Ven Thi Hoai and Cut Thi Ngoc committed a particularly serious crime, committing the act against many people. In particular, defendant Hoai sold her own younger brother for money.

Ms. B. begged the court not to sentence her daughter to prison... (Photo: Hoang Lam).

The presiding judge also cited many examples of cases of being sold abroad, forced to do hard labor, forced to give birth, and physically and mentally abused. Listening to the analysis of the Trial Council and the representative of the Provincial People's Procuracy who held the right to prosecute at the trial, both defendants cried, clearly showing remorse and regret.

Fortunately, the crimes of the two defendants were discovered and stopped by the authorities in time, so no consequences occurred. However, the jury believed that a severe sentence should be given, appropriate to the defendants’ crimes, as well as having a general deterrent and preventive effect.

The court also analyzed Mrs. B's responsibility when she agreed to let her eldest daughter take her younger sibling to work as a factory worker because at that time the child was over 14 years and 3 months old.

"At this age, the children should be studying, not working as factory workers to earn money and almost being sold across the border," the judge analyzed. Mrs. B. just sat silently. Having many children and poverty has limited this mother's understanding...

When the Trial Council allowed her to speak, Ms. B. struggled to express herself in Mandarin: "Please release Hoai, don't put him in jail, there's no one at home to work...".

However, the mother's pitiful and sincere plea could not change the strictness of the law.

The trial panel determined that in this case, the defendants had many aggravating circumstances, such as committing crimes against people under 16 years old and committing crimes against many people.

Considering the case as a whole, the first instance trial panel sentenced defendants Cut Thi Ngoc and Ven Thi Hoai to 12 years in prison each for the crime of Trafficking in persons under 16 years of age.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/an-sinh/loi-khan-cau-cua-nguoi-me-co-con-gai-ban-em-ruot-sang-xu-nguoi-20231225133640002.htm