Police in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum are handling a case in which the chief inspector of the local Health Department struck a local woman on the head with a hoe in a land dispute, causing the victim to be hospitalized last week. The assaulter is Nguyen Duc Hoang and the victim is 41-year-old Pham Kim Uyen Tram, who was taken to the Kon Tum General Hospital and later transferred to Ho Chi Minh City for intensive treatment. According to the case file, at 8:45 am on October 25, a team from a local government agency arrived at 24 Nguyen Hue Street, Thong Nhat Ward to remove a fence that had been illegally erected by Phan Tan Tien, 45, who lives next door. Tien has set up the fence to prevent a local woman, by Pham Thi Quyt, 67, from building a house there. After the team left, a fight broke out between relatives of Quyt and Tien’s family. Suddenly, Hoang, Quyt’s son-in-law, appeared and used a hoe to strike Tram, who was at the site, in the head. Tram, a relative of Tien’s mother who sold the house at 24 Nguyen Hue Street to Quyt 38 years ago, passed out due to blood loss after the attack and was taken to the hospital.

Police in Thong Nhat Ward came to the scene to file a report on the case, in which they confirmed that “Hoang used a hoe to strike Tram on the head, causing an injury to her forehead.” Hoang defended himself, saying, “During the fight, I was holding a hoe, and shoving from both sides caused the hoe to hit Tran by chance. I did not attack her intentionally.” However, a video clip recorded by a local showed that Hoang chased Tram with a hoe about 1.5 meters long and then struck her, despite outside efforts to stop him. Hoang later said that after the fight, he went to work as usual, and he and his family have yet to visit Tram. “Authorities will conclude whether I am right or wrong. I have nothing more to say at this moment.” Meanwhile, Colonel Tran Van Dau, head of the ward police, said that when the fight occurred, police were sent to the scene, but Hoang acted so quickly that the officers failed to stop him.Sell house, not land According to local authorities, Tram is a relative of Nguyen Thi Kim Vinh, who sold the house at 24 Nguyen Hue Street to Quyt in 1975. A certified document from October 7, 1975 related to their deal reads, “In case Quyt does not live any longer in the house and dismantles it, she must return the land to Vinh.” Tien, Vinh’s son, said his mother only sold the house, not the land, so if Quyt moves out of the house, Quyt must return the land to his mother and cannot build a new house on it. However, Tien said, Quyt has recently obtained a certificate of land use right related to the land in question. Tien’s family logged complaints to local authorities about the grant of the certificate. The Kon Tum Province People’s Committee has asked the local Inspectorate to handle the dispute and reply to Tien. While the case was still being settled, the above assault occurred.