Woman abusing 8-year-old girl to death in HCMC faces murder charge

The Ho Chi Minh City Police Department has made the decision regarding Nguyen Vo Quynh Trang, 26, after they received the case from police officers in Binh Thanh District last week.

The girl's father, Nguyen Kim Trung Thai, 36, is now investigated for "abuse" and "concealment of crimes."

Earlier Binh Thanh District police put Trang and Thai under investigation for "abuse," a charge that her family, the public and child protection experts all consider lenient for their crime.

Last month, Thai's eight-year-old daughter, who lived in an apartment complex in Binh Thanh with Thai and Trang, was taken to hospital but died before arrival.

An investigation later revealed that the little girl had been repeatedly beaten and made to do chores by Trang, to the complete knowledge of Thai.

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 little girl to a chair to ‘teach her lesson’.

Following the girl's death, Thai tried to delete all data from the cameras.

Trang and Thai had lived together for over a year, from the time Thai divorced his ex-wife. 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 also repeatedly refused to allow the biological mother to visit the little girl, it has been reported.

On Dec. 22, 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.

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