"The pink shadow" confessed
The door of the Detention Center (Provincial Police) opened wide, after a cold creaking sound, we were greeted by eyes full of hope. The number of people inside represented the amount of labor that created wealth for society, which was being wasted due to reprehensible mistakes.
LTT (born in 1995, in Hua Cuoi village, Nam Cuoi commune, Sin Ho district) is one of them. LTT was led into the interrogation room by the prison officer, his slow, heavy steps after 20 days of detention said it all. LTT was just prosecuted and temporarily detained by the Investigation Police Agency after being discovered possessing 0.21g of heroin for use. "Have you seen the value of freedom and honesty?" - T. responded to us with a nod and dark, sad eyes.
LTT could not hide his emotions when talking about his parents and children.
“I got married at the age of 15 (without registering my marriage), after giving birth to 2 children, my husband beat me regularly. Unable to bear the beatings, 3 years later I took my children back to my mother’s house when my second child was about 4 months old. My ex-husband now has a new wife, has his own life and never looks after the children.
In a poor rural area, working hard all year round, not having enough money to raise children, I listened to my friends' invitations and went to Hanoi to find a job and was hired at a karaoke bar as a "drink hostess". The 200,000 VND/hour I earned was divided in half with the owner. On average, I earn about 12 million VND per month, and after spending, I send 7 million VND back to help my parents raise my children. I go home to visit my family once every 1-2 months" - T. honestly, without hiding anything.
Amidst the burden of making a living, loneliness and lack of affection, T. fell into the wrong path. One time, drunk from entertaining guests, returning to his rented room, when resentment and fatigue took over, his "colleagues" persuaded T. to try drugs. Once, twice, three, four… times. At first it was out of curiosity, then every time he got drunk, he had to find that drug to feel at peace. By the time he was arrested, T. had been addicted for 2 months.
“That day my child was sick, I went home to visit him. He recovered, and on the day I had to go back to work, I took a bus from the district to the city but waited until 10pm for the bus to return to Hanoi. When I had a craving for drugs, I went looking for drugs, and as soon as I completed the transaction, I was arrested for possessing 0.21g of heroin that I had just bought and had not yet used. Everything collapsed, my heart ached when I thought about my mother and children. When I was addicted to these drugs, my mother cried a lot and advised me to “quit it and be a human being, my child…”, at that time I said “yes” but in the end…” – That unfinished silence was disappointment, helplessness, and also regret for the wrong choice that had gone on.
No one knows if that confession is true or not, except T. But there is one thing, only by telling the truth, living the truth, facing the truth will she have the chance to become a good person. Otherwise, it is the opposite. Knowing you have made a mistake, it is never too late to start over.
Expensive lesson
T.'s tears fell and she choked with bitterness like other female criminals when mentioning their blood ties. But it was far different from the heart-wrenching pain of death row inmates Thao Thi Dung or Giang Thi Chu (sentenced to death for drug crimes and sent her son and sister to life in prison) that the Court had announced years ago. At 30 years old, she was no longer young, but compared to her peers, T. was still shallow and simple, not fully understanding the consequences of what she had done and caused to herself, her family and society.
According to statistics from the provincial police agency, in the 5-year period (2021 - 2025), there were 488 female drug offenders out of 3,215 subjects (accounting for 15%). In the first 5 months of 2025 alone, there were 47 female drug offenders out of 302 subjects (accounting for 16%). This is a worrying, alarming number, a common concern of the whole society when living in remote villages, with low educational conditions, life is inherently difficult and hard all year round with fields, slash-and-burn farming, working hard but hunger and poverty have never gone away. Young people find every way to leave their hometown to go to a new environment, new living conditions.
Wishing for an easy job with high salary, many people have drifted to different places, surrounded by temptations in life full of traps. Among them, many women have foolishly taken the path leading to "white death". Some people are reckless due to their miserable lives; some are fond of fun, some are greedy for trivial material things and forget all the values of life. Forgetting that behind them there is a whole family with children who always need their mother's protection and care. Now, children born to mothers who commit drug crimes, can they have a full material and spiritual life, or are they stuck with a never-ending question mark.
The story of a “mistaken woman” mentioned above is not only a confession of a young woman, but also a wake-up call for the choices of today’s youth. Therefore, more than ever, each person, each family, each organization and the whole society need to make more efforts to create a safe and healthy living environment.
Active propaganda is one of the solutions to raise general legal awareness for ethnic minorities in the highlands.
It is necessary to equip young people in general, especially women, with knowledge, skills and courage to stand firm against the temptations of society. Local authorities and relevant agencies also need to have policies to support livelihoods and create jobs for people to settle down in their homeland. Along with that, it is necessary to improve the knowledge of people in disadvantaged areas, creating "antibiotic doses" and "vaccines" that create good antibodies for the awareness of people in general and young people in particular.
Source: https://baolaichau.vn/xa-hoi/loi-tu-thu-sau-song-sat-cua-bong-hong-lac-loi-1119464
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