(2nd from R) The mother of Dat, the boy who died after a basketball court altercation, is carried by her relatives to the Long Bien District People’s Court in Hanoi, Nov. 19, 2024. Photo by Read/Hai Thu
A 16-year-old boy in Hanoi who beat up a 13-year-old boy over quarrels, resulting in the latter’s death, was sentenced to 4 years and 9 months in prison on Tuesday.
Truong Van Minh, 16, was charged with deliberate infliction of bodily harm by the Long Bien District People’s Court.
The quarrels occurred on March 17 when Minh’s brother, 11-year-old Khang, was running near a basketball court in Long Bien District when he encountered another boy named Dat, 13. They had a quarrel and Dat slapped Khang once in the face.
Khang then returned home to ask Minh to come with him to settle the dispute. Their grandmother then called Tam, 45, the father of the two brothers, to come with them to prevent a fight from happening.
Minh and Khang later went straight to the area where Dat was playing with his friends. Minh then punched Dat once in the face, causing him to fall onto the ground.
Tam tried to stop the fight before bringing his two sons home. He later returned to check on Dat’s condition, who showed signs of shock. Tam and Dat’s friends then took Dat to the hospital. After multiple hospital transfers, Dat died at the National Children’s Hospital on May 21.
Authorities said Dat died to multiple organ failure, a consequence of brain injuries that resulted from his head hitting the ground.
At the court, Minh said he did not know Dat personally, and that he did not know that his action at the time would result in Dat’s death.
Khang said that while he was running, Dat came and asked him to join a fight. When Khang refused, Dat sat on him and slapped him in the face.
Tam said that he did not know the situation would escalate the way it did, and apologized to Dat’s mother.
Dat’s mother accused that Minh bragged about beating Dat and did not show remorse. She also claimed that Minh’s family did not check on Dat when he was in hospital, adding that she wanted Minh to be charged with murder instead, with Tam as an accomplice.
However, prosecutors said Tam was not complicit in his son’s crime as he had tried to stop the fight. Khang was determined to be complicit with his brother’s crime, but as he was only over 11 years old at the time of the incident, he was not old enough to be criminally charged.
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