Vietnamese couple fight for son crushed to death in Korea

When Vo Thi Nhung got married in 2018, she was a preschool teacher in Vietnam. In 2020, Nhung became pregnant and quit her job to move to Korea with her husband (Tran Anh Dong).

In March 2021, their son (Tran Viet Bach) was born in Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi Province. In November 2022, the couple sent their child to a daycare. However, 5 days later, Bach passed away at the facility.

According to The Korea Times , an autopsy showed that the boy died of suffocation. Police investigators said the kindergarten teacher wanted to force the boy to sleep and used force to press down on him for 15 minutes.

Prosecutors have asked for a 30-year sentence for the teacher, who said the baby's death was a homicide due to gross negligence, while the defendant said it was an "accident." The judge sentenced him to 19 years in prison last month.

The couple appealed, saying the sentence was not deterrent enough. “Nineteen years doesn’t make sense,” Tran told The Korea Times . “She killed a child and only got 19 years in prison? We’re fighting for her to get more than 19 years.”

Vợ chồng người Việt đấu tranh vì con trai bị đè chết ở Hàn Quốc - Ảnh 1.

Tran Anh Dong and her son at home when he was still alive. Photo: The Korea Times

Mr. Tran still remembers the image of his healthy son. "He was completely healthy, eating well and sleeping well. And my son suddenly passed away. It was hard to accept," he shared with The Korea Times .

The Korean public has been shocked by child abuse cases many times. According to experts, abuse mainly occurs at home, but there are also cases of children being abused by daycare teachers.

Mr. Tran and his wife live with guilt for sending their son to daycare.

“I had back surgery and my wife was going to school,” Tran added. “We needed help and saw day care as a solution. Looking back, we were selfish. I could have postponed the surgery. She could have gone to school later.”

Nearly six months after the incident, the couple were on sleeping pills and undergoing psychiatric treatment. "We felt like we had killed our child," Tran confessed. The couple did not tell their parents exactly what had happened. "We just said he had died, not the real cause," Tran said. "We didn't want to tell them the truth because they would worry and get sick."

Vợ chồng người Việt đấu tranh vì con trai bị đè chết ở Hàn Quốc - Ảnh 3.

Vo Thi Nhung and her son. Photo: The Korea Times

The couple also have a difficult life in Korea. Tran was injured at work but his Korean employer refused to pay for his treatment. He had to pay for the surgery himself. Currently, the couple depends on Nhung’s income. Nhung has a student visa and earns a little from her part-time job.

Still, Mr. Tran said the couple "still want to settle down in Korea and start a family, but not now. When we have a child, we won't send him to daycare until he can talk."

Kang Hee-soo, who runs a non-profit organization, believes the child could have been saved if staff had been more careful. He stressed that current laws in South Korea should be amended to give parents regular and easy access to CCTV. “Only then will staff at daycare facilities be more careful,” Kang told The Korea Times.

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