Vietnamese embassy visits Cambodian
victim in child torture video
Nguyen Thanh Dung is
pictured at a police station in Ho Chi Minh City. Tuoi Tre
The
Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia on Sunday visited the family of a local
toddler, who was seen being abused by a Vietnamese national in a viral video
that sparked widespread outrage in both countries last week.
Counselor
Nguyen Manh Cuong led the diplomatic delegation, joining members from the
General Association of Vietnamese Cambodians (GAVC) to call on the family in
Keo Phos District, located in the southwestern Cambodian province of Preah
Sihanouk.
In a
video that surfaced on the Internet earlier this month, the family’s
two-year-old son, also of Vietnamese origin, was seen being tortured,
strangled and hit with a stun gun by a Vietnamese man identified as Nguyen
Thanh Dung.
Dung,
hailing from An Giang, a southern Vietnamese province bordering Cambodia, is
in Vietnamese police’s custody for investigation, following his arrest on December 7.
The
embassy’s delegation consoled the family on the pain their son had to endure,
reassuring them that competent Vietnamese agencies are working actively with
their Cambodian counterparts to resolve the case and bring justice to the
victim and his family.
In
response, the toddler’s family extended their thanks to the embassy and the
GAVC, expressing their hope that the case will soon be settled.
The
child is being fostered by Senator Oknha Mong Reththy, deputy head of the
Cambodian criminal police unit, and is leading a stable life at a new
plantation, away from where he had the nightmares with Dung.
As
earlier reported, the victim is the son of a couple who work for the cocoa
plantation run by Dutch national Stefan Struik, a sexual partner of Dung.
Struik was charged on Friday for allegedly concealing evidence and failing to
report the abuse, according to the Cambodia Daily.
Senator
Reththy spoke highly of Vietnam’s cooperation in resolving the case, as well
as the timely solace from the embassy to the victim and his family.
During
an interrogation with Vietnamese police, Dung confessed his act but argued
that he might have been under the influence of crystal methamphetamine when
torturing the kid. Police also found 49 videos of him abusing the child in
his mobile phone.
As
regards these videos, the Cambodia Daily quoted James
McCabe, head of the Cambodian police’s Child Protection Unit, as saying that
the clips show the same suspect and victim.
All
of the videos capturing the “cruel and sadistic acts” were filmed in a streak
of four days in late August, according to McCabe.
The
Child Protection Unit chief also told the Cambodia Daily that
work is underway to extradite Dung back to Cambodia to face trial.
“I
am hopeful that it will be a successful application, but it will take some
time as procedures need to be followed – and primarily due to the high
profile nature of this investigation and the offender,” he told the Phnom
Penh-based daily.
TUOI TRE
NEWS
|
Thứ Hai, 12 tháng 12, 2016
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