The father of a seven-year-old girl who was allegedly tortured with a heated iron bar in southern Vietnam has denied any wrongdoing and accused the girl’s teacher of pressuring his daughter into believing her version of the story.

The girl, N.H.N.T., has allegedly been a victim of constant domestic violence since moving in with her father and stepmother after her parents divorced.

On Friday, a teacher at the local school in Kien  Giang Province that T. goes to discovered burn marks on her face and arms, which she confessed were the result of her father using a heated iron bar on her skin.

Efforts by authorities to separate the girl have been in vain, since both T. and her alleged abusers have repeatedly denied the acts, claiming that she had fallen over on a hot grill.

On Sunday afternoon, provincial officials visited the house of Nguyen Van Hoa and Tran Thi Kieu Tien, T.’s father and stepmother, for the third time since the news broke to try to convince them into handing T. over to social workers.

According to Tien, the ‘accident’ that led to T.’s wounds happened roughly a week ago, when the couple were in the middle of grilling some pork knuckles using an electric grill.

Tien said that T. tumbled over the power cord and fell into the heated grill, causing the burn marks.

When asked to show the grill as evidence, Tien took out an unused grill that was still inside its box, suggesting it was bought to support their story.

T.’s father, Hoa, even accused T.’s teacher of pressuring his daughter into saying that she had been burnt with a heated iron bar.

“She told me that her teacher had asked her whether the wound had been caused by me using a heated iron bar and threatened to give her to the police if she didn’t said yes,” Hoa claimed. “Even after she said it was an accident, the teacher continued to pressure her until she said she had been hit by her father.”

Tran Thi Kieu Tien, the stepmother of T., shows authorities an electric grill which she claimed was the cause of T.’s wounds, November 26, 2017. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Separation ‘not immediately possible’

Cao Hung Cuong, chairman of Vinh Hoa Phu Commune in Kien Giang, where the girl lives, said the separation of T. from her alleged abusers was “not immediately possible," as both the couple and the girl had denied any actual abuse.

Additionally, it was only after approximately one hour of persuasion that Hoa and Tien agreed to let the authorities take T. to a local clinic to have her wounds treated, and only on the condition that T. would return to their custody afterward.

Hoa was also made to sign a written pledge to “take the best care of T.” upon her return.

According to Can Tho City-based lawyer Nguyen Truong Thanh, in cases like this it is advisable for the birth mother to file a lawsuit that challenges the father’s custody in order to provide legal grounds for authorities to proceed with separating the victim and her alleged abusers.

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