Vietnamese trafficking victim rescued after sending SOS message from China

By Minh Cuong December 28, 2016 | 07:21 pm PT

Chinese officials return a Vietnamese trafficking victim to Vietnam's authorities. Photo by VnExpress

The 20-year-old woman said she was tricked and forced into marrying a Chinese man.

A Vietnamese woman sold as a bride to a Chinese man has been rescued after managing to send an SOS text message to her mother.

Chinese officials returned the 20-year-old woman to Vietnamese border officials on Wednesday, more than two months after the text was sent out on a messaging app.

The message said a Vietnamese person had tricked her and sold her to a Chinese man. She described being held captive by his family in Hebei. It also came with a photo of the man.

Vietnamese border officials then worked with Chinese colleagues to confirm the story and rescue her.

The authorities are looking for people behind the trafficking operation.

Dozens of Vietnamese women have been trafficked to China this year, according to official sources. In the first six months alone 34 cases were reported.

> Vietnamese jailed for trafficking women to China