Father ties daughter up, stages kidnapping for cash

The father, 39-year-old Nguyen Van Dong, is currently detained, said Quynh Phu District police chief Tran Quang Thanh on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Quynh Phu police received reports that an 11-year-old girl had been kidnapped and the kidnapper was looking for ransom. Two hours later, investigators found the girl at a motel in Hai Phong City, two hours drive from Nam Dinh. The suspected kidnapper was then determined to be Dong, the girl’s father.

Dong said he staged the kidnapping because he was in debt. At around noon on Wednesday, he had taken his daughter to the motel, before tying her up using electric wires and blindfolding her with a scarf. He then took a picture of the girl as proof of the kidnapping.

He then created a social media account and sent a message to himself, saying his daughter had been kidnapped and that he would have to prepare VND300 million ($12,654) by 6 p.m. The message was sent along with the picture.

Dong then took the message and the picture to relatives, asking to borrow money to save his daughter. He managed to secure VND200 million this way.