The suspect in the kidnapping and murder of a 2-year-old girl from Hai Duong has died. How will the case be resolved?

On the evening of September 22, Hanoi City Police announced that the City Police Investigation Agency had initiated a case of kidnapping a 2-year-old girl for the purpose of appropriating property that occurred on September 19 in Da Ton Commune, Gia Lam District (Hanoi City), the suspect is Giap Thi Huyen Trang. The police also determined that Trang jumped into the river to commit suicide.

Previously, on September 21, Hung Yen District Police issued a decision to prosecute the case and prosecute defendant Giap Thi Huyen Trang for murder.

Therefore, public opinion is asking the question: now that defendant Giap Thi Huyen Trang is dead, how will the two cases be resolved?

Legal analysis, lawyer Trinh Van Tuyen (Giang Thanh Law Office, Hanoi Bar Association) said that according to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, when determining that there are signs of a crime committed by an individual or legal entity, the competent authority shall issue a decision to initiate criminal proceedings. After initiating a case and having sufficient grounds to determine that an individual or legal entity has committed an act that the Criminal Code defines as a crime, the investigation agency shall issue a decision to prosecute the accused.

In the above case, the prosecution agency determined that Giap Thi Huyen Trang had signs of a crime and that she was the one who committed the crime. Therefore, Hanoi City Police initiated a case of "Kidnapping for the purpose of appropriating property", while Hung Yen Province Police issued a decision to initiate a case and prosecute Trang for "murder".

However, after the procedural decisions were issued, the authorities have now determined that the defendant committed suicide. According to Article 230 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the investigating agency must issue a decision to suspend the investigation of the defendant.

Regarding civil liability, if the criminal act of the accused (who has died) causes damage to others, compensation must still be paid or according to the agreement of the parties. In case the accused or defendant has died but left behind property, the heirs must be responsible for performing the property obligations within the scope of that inheritance.

"In the event that the suspect or defendant has died without any assets, the victim has no basis to request compensation for damages. Relatives of the suspect or defendant have no obligation to compensate, unless they volunteer," said lawyer Tuyen.

According to lawyer Tuyen, the death of the accused and the suspension of the investigation against the accused means the end of criminal responsibility before the law. Meanwhile, the responsibility to compensate the victim still needs to be guaranteed, but the law currently has no specific regulations on this issue.

Therefore, the lawyer of the Hanoi City Association said that it is still necessary to continue investigating and clarifying the case, both to determine whether the defendant is the criminal or not, "and to have a basis to ensure the rights (to be compensated) for the victim".

According to Hanoi City Police, on the afternoon of September 19, the agency received a complaint from Ms. MTH (residing in Gia Lam District, Hanoi) about her 21-month-old daughter being kidnapped by Giap Thi Huyen Trang, demanding a ransom of 1.5 billion VND, otherwise the child would be killed. During the investigation, the police determined that Trang was the person hired by Ms. H.'s family to pick up and drop off the child.

After picking up the child from the kindergarten in Da Ton commune (Gia Lam district), Trang used a motorbike to take the child straight to Hung Yen province; continuously moving around different districts. While moving, Trang used many phone numbers to call and text the child's family to demand ransom, then turned off the phone to hide and avoid being caught.

On the way, the girl was tired and cried a lot, so Trang was afraid of being discovered, so she killed the victim to erase all traces and cover up the clues. After killing the victim, Trang continued to demand ransom, determined to carry out the crime to the end. The girl's family had transferred money to Trang many times, with a total of 550 million VND. After that, knowing that she could not escape and would have to face the highest sentence, Trang committed suicide.