Early in the morning, Mrs. Ven Me B. (47 years old, residing in Bao Nam commune, Ky Son district, Nghe An province ) and her husband, along with some relatives, were present at the court to participate in the case as the legal representative for the victim. The hardships and toil had made the mother of eight children look old and haggard.
Several times, Mrs. Bu glanced at the defendant, Ven Thi Hoai (21 years old, residing in Bao Nam commune). More than a year had passed since her arrest, and today was the first time mother and daughter had met, but Hoai didn't dare look up at her mother. This mountain girl had plotted to sell even her own younger sister...
Having sold her younger sister, who was just over 14 years old, Ven Thi Hoai repeatedly broke down in tears in court (Photo: Hoang Lam).
Lacking money to pay off debts, he sold his own sister.
According to the records, Hoai and Cut Thi Ngoc (27 years old, residing in Nam Nhoong commune, Que Phong district, Nghe An province) met while working as factory workers in a northern province. After quitting their jobs, they still kept in touch.
Around October 2022, Ngoc messaged Hoai, saying that her mother was living in China and asked her to find someone to bring over to China to be sold into marriage. If successful, Hoai would be paid 30 million VND, while the family whose daughter agreed to go to China would receive 120 million VND.
Being in debt, Hoai thought of her younger sister, who was just over 14 years old, and discussed with Ngoc the idea of selling her to China. Hoai borrowed 4.5 million dong from Ngoc to pay off debts 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." Being too young, K. hesitated, telling her sister, "I'll only go if Mom lets me."
Hearing her eldest daughter say she would take her younger daughter to work as a factory worker, and faced with the family's poverty and large family, Mrs. B hesitated for a moment before reluctantly agreeing. She thought that with both daughters working as factory workers, the family would have two less mouths to feed, and if they earned a salary, they could send money back to their parents to support their younger sister... However, she never imagined that this nod of agreement would almost cause a disaster, one that she would regret for the rest of her life.
Ven Thi Hoai (left) and Cut Thi Ngoc colluded to trick and sell two victims, both just over 14 years old, into marriage with Chinese men (Photo: Hoang Lam).
When Mrs. B. agreed to let her eldest daughter take her youngest daughter to work as a factory worker, a neighbor also came to ask Hoai to bring her granddaughter along.
Hoài called Ngọc to inform her that she had found two people to take to China and demanded that Ngọc pay her 60 million VND as a commission and 240 million VND to give to the families.
The two sides discussed how to transport the victims from their local area to the Mong Cai border region ( Quang Ninh province ) to hand them over to Ngoc. From there, Ngoc would be responsible for transporting the "goods" across the border to her mother.
At 2 PM on July 1, 2023, Hoai boarded a passenger bus to take the two victims away from the area. However, upon reaching the Cu village area in Chieu Luu commune, Ky Son district, the police discovered Hoai's actions and successfully rescued the two children.
Two days later, upon learning that Hoai had been arrested, Cut Thi Ngoc turned herself in to the police.
The pitifully innocent plea of a poor mother.
At the trial, the defendants confessed to the crimes as charged in the indictment. Both claimed that, being members of an ethnic minority group with limited education, they were unaware that trafficking people to China for marriage was against the law.
The court panel analyzed the situation to ensure the two defendants understood that their actions were prohibited by law. At the time Hoai took them away to sell, both victims were just over 14 years old.
Ven Thi Hoai and Cut Thi Ngoc committed crimes of exceptional severity, targeting multiple victims. In particular, defendant Hoai sold her own younger sister for money.
Ms. B. pleaded with the court not to sentence her daughter to prison... (Photo: Hoang Lam).
The presiding judge also presented numerous examples of cases involving trafficking abroad, forced labor, forced childbirth, and physical and mental abuse. Listening to the analysis by the panel of judges and the representative of the Provincial People's Procuracy, both defendants wept, expressing remorse and regret.
Fortunately, the defendants' criminal acts were detected and prevented in time by law enforcement, thus avoiding any serious consequences. However, the court believes that a strict sentence is necessary, commensurate with the defendants' crimes and serving as a deterrent and general prevention measure.
The court also analyzed Ms. B's responsibility for agreeing to let her eldest daughter take her younger sibling to work as a factory worker, given that the child was over 14 years and 3 months old at the time.
"At this age, these children should be studying, not working as laborers to earn money and almost being sold across the border," the judge analyzed. Mrs. B. sat silently. Having many children and living in poverty had limited this mother's understanding...
When given permission to speak by the panel of judges, Mrs. B. struggled to express herself in standard Vietnamese: "Please release Hoai, don't send her to prison, there's no one at home to do the work..."
However, the mother's sincere and pitiful plea could not change the strictness of the law.
The trial panel determined that in this case, the defendants had several aggravating circumstances, including committing crimes against persons under 16 years of age and committing crimes against multiple people.
After considering all aspects of the case, the trial court sentenced defendants Cụt Thị Ngọc and Ven Thị Hoài each to 12 years in prison for the crime of trafficking persons under 16 years of age.
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