The owner of a private daycare centre in HCM City and one of the staff have been sentenced to 3 years in prison for abusing children.
Phuong and Ly sentenced to three years
The trial was held at Thu Duc Children House on January 20 morning. Le Thi Dong Phuong, owner of Phuong Anh Daycare in Hiep Binh Phuoc District, and Nguyen Le Thien Ly, a care-giver, were ordered to make compensation of VND40 million (USD1,900) to the families of two children.
(left to right) Nguyen Le Thien Ly and Le Thi Dong Phuong at the trial
Three were identified in the video clip, but only the families of two were present; those of Le Tuan Khang and Nguyen Tran Hoa.
Phuong said she had to beat the children to make them eat. According to Phuong, a child named Hoa was sick, so he did not want to eat anything, Phuong slapped and squeezed Hoa's head in order to get him to eat.
Many local parents attending the court
Lawyers of the children argued, however, that the brutal actions could not be explained away. Both Phuong and Ly said that they were regretful of their actions and asked for leniency.
In December police in Thu Duc District detained Phuong and Ly after a labourer who worked next door to the kindergarten provided a video clip showing the care-takers beating children. The care-takers even forced the children to eat vomited food and tried to put them into a water tank.
The case gained immediate attention and stirred up public anger. Since early morning, before the trial was started, thousands of people gathered around Thu Duc Children House and security had to lock all of the doors to prevent chaos. During the trial many people banged on the door and demanded to get inside. TV monitors were put up to serve the court-goers.
Security prevents the crowd from getting in (photo:Vietnamnet)
Thousands of people stand outside (photo: Vietnamnet)
People sit outside the courtroom to watch the trial on TV
