For more than ten years, a 37-year-old woman in Phu Yen Province has resigned herself to violence from her husband, but her mother, who could not see her daughter suffer any longer, has recently reported to the police the brutal actions of her son-in-law.

A scene of domestic violence (For illustration only), Photo: Internet

Tran Thi Ngat, of Hoa Thanh Commune, Dong Hoa District, told Tuoi Tre some of the brutality she has endured at the hands of her husband for a long time.

Most recently, November 22, after getting home drunk from a wedding party, her husband, Nguyen Ngoc Ken, destroyed all the rice paper she had spent the entire day making and then proceeded to beat her with a wooden stick. 

In trying to get away from him, she tripped and fell, at which point the man continued his brutal attack on her until one of her legs broke.

The assault was only one among numerous cases of violence she had experienced at the hands of the husband whenever he got drunk, Ngat said.

It was the third most serious assault she has suffered so far this year, Nguyen Thi Triem, Ngat’s mother, said angrily.

The previous brutal beatings occurred on August 7 and May 27, during which Ngat was beaten black and blue, Triem said.

Tran Thi Thom, Ngat’s sister, said three years ago, Ken hurled a stone at Ngat’s head, causing her to be hospitalized and receive six stitches for the head wound.

Tuoi Tre asked Ngat why she had not taken any action against Ken’s abusive acts, Ngat replied in tears, “I have decided to leave him many times but always been held back from leaving at the last minute by my two children’s cries, pleading with me to stay with them. 

“I love my children very much, so I have tried to live with him until now. But if the situation continues, perhaps I cannot put up with it any more.”

When Tuoi Tre asked why he assaulted her wife, Ken said matter-of-factly, “If I had wanted to beat her to death, I would have done it long ago.”

Ken also said he could not remember how many times he had assaulted his wife.

Nguyen Ngoc Ken, who has insulted and brutalized his wife for the past ten years (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Seeking help

On November 28, Triem filed a petition to the local Women’s Union and the Hoa Thanh Commune authorities asking for assistance in protecting Ngat from Ken’s brutality.

Nguyen Van Truong, head of the commune police, told Tuoi Tre that he summoned Ken for questioning after receiving the petition. 

The brutal man admitted he was wrong to beat his wife and promised he would not repeat his violent acts. However, on December 1, he again beat Ngat when she was on her sickbed, the official said.

“Ken’s acts were enough for him to be tried criminally, but the police’s policy is not to apply a criminal treatment to him for two reasons. First, Ngat asked us to educate him instead of prosecuting him. Second, he is illiterate and ignorant of the law,” Truong said. 

“However, the police will give him a public warning before local residents sometime this December. After that, if he relapses to abusive behavior, we will send him to a penitentiary center.”

Thai Thi Thanh Thuy, chairwoman of the Dong Hoa District Women’s Union, said, “Ken has no job and indulges in drinking. He often picks a quarrel with Ngat and beats her. We have assigned the commune Women’s Union to monitor Ken’s acts to protect Ngat.”

To prevent further cases of violent assault against Ngat from the husband, the commune People’s Committee has asked the women’s union and the local police to follow Ken’s activities, Mai Tan Ly, chairman of the committee, said.

Source: Tuoi Tre