Vietnam jails 2 women for up to 4 years for child trafficking

September 11, 2015 | 09:28

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A court in Vietnam has sentenced two local women to up to four years in prison for trafficking children at Bo De Pagoda in Hanoi last year.

Pham Thi Nguyet, 45, hailing from the northern province of Ninh Binh, received a four-year imprisonment sentence while Nguyen Thi Thanh Trang, a 36-year-old Hanoian, got three years and six months in jail.

They were condemned on Wednesday by the People’s Court of Long Bien District in Hanoi for their offenses, pursuant to Article 120 of the Penal Code.

Hanoi police launched an investigation into the case in July 2014 after a local resident, Nguyen Thanh Long, who often contributed to the pagoda’s charitable activities, reported that someone at Bo De had illegally sold his godson, Cu Nguyen Cong, to other people.

Through their investigation, police officers concluded that Cong, born on October 25, 2013, was the son of Tran Thi Thu Ha from the northern province of Phu Tho and Vu Xuan Truong from the northern province of Tuyen Quang.

Ha and Truong lived together as husband and wife and the woman had an unwanted pregnancy, according to a police probe.

So after Cong was born, they sent him to the pagoda so that he could be nurtured there.

Trang, who managed an ‘open home’ at the pagoda for orphaned and abandoned children, then took Cong out of Bo De and sold him to Nguyet, one of the frequent visitors to the pagoda, for VND35 million (US$1,550) in January 2014.

She then deposited VND10 million taken from the sum in Ha’s bank account and spent the remaining amount on her personal needs.

Nguyet later brought up Cong at her home, but the boy died of measles on June 24, 2014.

After collecting enough evidence, police arrested Nguyet and Trang on August 3 last year.

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