Police investigate wedding of state official’s son, pregnant minor in northern Vietnam
Sunday, October 11, 2015, 22:02 GMT+7
Police officers have been looking into a wedding between the son of a government official and a 14-year-old girl in Vu Quang District, situated in the north-central province of Ha Tinh, according to a state official.
Police are verifying reports of the wedding between V., 21, the son of the deputy chairman of the People’s Committee of Huong Quang Commune, and T., 14, a pregnant resident of the People’s Committee of Huong Minh Commune, Nguyen Trong Son, chairman of the Huong Minh People’s Committee, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.
The wedding was held by Nguyen Van Tuong, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee of Huong Quang, with the participation of guests and local officials on Thursday.
Some of the guests, including the commune's chairman, realized that the bride was not old enough for a wedding, and reported the case to district authorities.
"As T. was born on March 17, 2001, she has not reached marriageable age. But local officials have not known about the incident, as we have not been notified by the family,” Son said.
“If we had known about that, we would have taken timely measures to prohibit the wedding,” Son told Tuoi Tre.
Vietnamese men and women must be at least 20 and 18, respectively, to be able to get married, according to the law.
Nguyen Truong Tho, chairman of the People’s Committee of Huong Quang, has confirmed the organization of such a wedding to Tuoi Tre.
"Officials were informed of the wedding only via the invites sent by Tuong, the Huong Quang deputy chairman, but the age of the bride was unknown because she came from another commune,” Tho explained.
“After learning of the underage bride, we contacted the district’s leaders for directives," he said.
"Because the girl is pregnant, V. asked his father to hold the wedding, and Tuong agreed even though he knew that it violated the law,” the chairman added.
According to Vietnamese laws, having sex with a girl between 13 and 16 years old is an illegal act whose punishment may be a 15-year imprisonment sentence, and the jail term will last longer if the criminal act leads to pregnancy.
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