Tran Van Vien, 30, told the police on February 17 that he killed his daughter after failing to contact his wife, according to the head of Nui Thanh District Police Department, Pham Viet Tien.
"Vien told us that he came to the house of his mother-in-law at 7.30pm on February 16 and made a phone call to his wife who is working in Ho Chi Minh City," the police official said. "There was no answer and he thought that his wife was staying with another man. He took his five-year-old daughter, who was staying with his mother-in-law, away and threw her into the Truong Giang River."
After that, the man went to inform his mother who stays in the same district about what he had done and then went to the police.
Vien's mother rushed to the river to find the child.
Rescue forces found the girl's body at around 1 am on February 17.
According to Vien's mother-in-law, Le Thi Luong, she was shocked and couldn't believe the news.
"My granddaughter was staying with me yesterday evening when my son-in-law came," she said. "He was drunk and he made a phone call to his wife who was in Ho Chi Minh City. After being unable to call her, my son-in-law said he would take his daughter away. The girl said she didn't want to go with him but he still managed to hold her. Seeing her crying, I told him to let her stay but he was angry and took her away. I thought he took her to his home but I couldn't imagine that he threw his daughter into the river."
Luong said that the man and her daughter got married in 2015 but they used to quarrel a lot. After giving birth to the child, her daughter left for Ho Chi Minh City and her husband was often away on long-day fishing trips. The child had stayed with her since she was small.
A neighbour of Vien who refused to be named said that Vien was a rude man and was often drunk.
"Vien used to beat his wife and she left for Ho Chi Minh City to work for several years," the neighbour said. "Their daughter stayed with the wife's mother. He visited his daughter sometimes and we saw that he also loved his daughter. I couldn't understand how he could do that with the little girl."
