Death sentence sought for Saigon woman abusing 8-year-old girl to death

According to HCMC People's Procuracy, Nguyen Vo Quynh Trang's behavior was dangerous, causing particularly serious consequences, and must be dealt with severely.

Therefore, it suggested that the jury grants her the death sentence, as heard at a trial in HCMC on Friday.

"Although the defendant was sincere during the investigation process, she was incapable of reform and needed to be removed from society," said a representative of the Procuracy.

It proposed that Trang, 26, be charged with "murder" and "torture."

The trial against Trang and the girl's father Nguyen Kim Trung Thai, 36, drew particular attention from the public. The HCMC People's Court arranged 300 chairs to accomodate the public to follow the hearings, but a much bigger crowd, including people traveling from outside the city, meant many had to stand.

Police had to send extra officers to maintain security and block roads around the court before the trial opened early on Friday morning.

People stand outside the HCMC People's Court to follow developments of a trial over the deadly abuse of an 8-year-old girl, November 25, 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Dinh Van

Similar scenes appeared at the first trial in July, which was postponed for seeking further clarification to assess the severity of the abuse.

Trang and Thai had lived together for over a year, from the time Thai divorced his ex-wife in 2020. Since that day, Trang had frequently beaten the little girl and forced her to do chores, investigation found. When rods broke due to repeated beatings, she switched to wooden implements.

Thai repeatedly refused to allow the biological mother to visit the girl, it has been reported.

On Dec. 22 last year, Trang beat the girl so badly she fainted. The girl was taken to hospital, but declared dead on arrival. Her wounds and bruises prompted doctors to contact police.

Autopsy results determined the girl had suffered a hematoma under the skin of her forehead, mild cerebral edema, and broken ribs.

Camera footage from Thai's home, recovered by police, revealed that on Dec. 22, the day the girl died, Trang had beaten her for hours using wooden sticks, her arms and legs. She also bound the girl to a chair to "teach her a lesson."

Following the girl's death, Thai deleted all data from the cameras.

Later, he admitted to police he knew his lover often used rods and sticks to beat his daughter for "education" purposes.

According to prosecutors, Trang had acted out of "despicable motives" as she did not get Thai family's consent for marriage and Thai did not agree to have a baby with her. Therefore, she had vented her jealousy on Thai's daughter.

As for Thai, they suggested two-three years in prison for the crime of "torture" and four-five years in prison for "concealment of crimes."