Ministry directs Hanoi to punish husband for domestic violence

In the video, the 27-year-old woman, who wishes to stay anonymous, is beaten by 32-year-old Nguyen Van Vinh, a martial artist, at their apartment in Thach Ban Ward, Long Bien District on Monday, media reports said.

The woman, who was carrying their two-month child at the time, was hospitalized after the beating, which was witnessed by their older son and a housekeeper.

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs sent a document to the capital city's labor department Tuesday, asking it to investigate the case, help the victim and punish the abuser as per the law.

"We strongly condemn the husband savagely beating his wife, especially that the beating happened right in front of their small child and that the wife had only given birth two months ago. That is unacceptable, and it must not be allowed to happen again ...," Pham Ngoc Tien, head of the Gender Equality Department under the labor ministry, was quoted by the Vietnam News Agency as saying.

If necessary, authorities should provide psychological counseling for the victim and help the victim move to a safe place, Tien said.

The woman said her husband got angry when she moved their television to another room "without asking for permission." It was not the first time her husband beat her in the nine years they were married, she said.

"Every family has conflicts sometimes," the husband told VnExpress over the phone.

However, the woman's brother, who also wished to remain unnamed, said Vinh has always been "violent" and his wife has had to endure it. There was a time when Vinh even threatened the wife's family through text messages for trying to stop him from beating her, he said.

The woman moved to her parents' house after the incident and filed a complaint with the local police on Wednesday. However, she withdrew it a day later, saying the two of them had "made up," a Tuoi Tre report said, citing an unnamed representative of the Long Bien District police department.

"The woman agreed to resolve the conflict, and Vinh also promised not to [beat his wife] again in a written document," the representative said.

New reports say that the woman will file for a divorce.

Vietnam's Ministry of Health has recorded around 20,000 cases of domestic violence every year, with 97 percent of the victims being women.