Beating a drinking buddy causing a traumatic brain injury just because of a small conflict

Vegetative person

In the newly built house of Mr. Nguyen Danh Thom's family (born in 1985, residing in residential area No. 1, Pha Lai ward, Chi Linh) on a weekday afternoon, there were only the sounds of children. Entering the house, the eldest son was sitting and looking after Mr. Thom, who was bedridden, while his wife went to pick up their 4-year-old child from kindergarten.

After 5 months in the hospital with a treatment cost of more than 300 million VND, Mr. Thom still became a vegetative person, his body was just skin and bones, and he was tormented by pain. Mr. Thom could not take care of himself, and had to eat through a tube. The responsibility of taking care of his husband and children fell on the shoulders of his wife, Ms. Nen. Even though he was in a coma and unresponsive, she still firmly believed that his eyes could handle everything.

"My husband was beaten to this point, now he is bedridden. I just hope that Thom will be healthy and recover so that the three of us can have support," Ms. Nen said emotionally.

Locally, Mr. Thom and his wife were hard-working, gentle people. Just because of a small conflict 9 months ago at a beer house, Mr. Thom was beaten, resulting in a traumatic brain injury.

Nguyen Van Khoa (born in 1984, residing in Tan Dan ward, both in Chi Linh city) and Mr. Thom are classmates. At around 9:15 p.m. on December 4, 2022, at Cong Huong beer pub in Van An ward (Chi Linh), Khoa met and asked for Mr. Thom's brother's phone number, but Mr. Thom did not give it, leading to an argument. Mr. Thom cursed Khoa, then Khoa stood up, picked up the phone, hit Mr. Thom on the head, and slapped him repeatedly, causing Mr. Thom to fall. When Mr. Thom stood up, Khoa continued to hit Mr. Thom on the head with a sandal and kicked him in the chest, but everyone in the pub intervened, so Khoa stopped beating him.

Five minutes later, Mr. Thom went out to continue drinking beer with Khoa. Khoa said to Mr. Thom: "I'm sorry" and Mr. Thom replied: "You just slapped me 7 times, now I'll slap you back 7 times". Mr. Thom stood up and slapped Khoa once, then Khoa stood up and hit Mr. Thom, knocking him back onto the tiled floor. Even though everyone tried to stop him, Khoa continued to hit Mr. Thom until he was unconscious.

After that, Khoa called his family to come by car to take Mr. Thom to the hospital, but Mr. Thom did not go, so he drove him home. On December 5, 2022, Mr. Thom was taken to Hai Duong General Hospital by his family for emergency treatment. As a result, Mr. Thom suffered a traumatic brain injury, causing a vegetative state, with a body injury rate of 99%.

The prisoner

In early September, the People's Court of Hai Duong province held a first-instance trial of Nguyen Van Khoa for murder.

Indicting defendant Khoa, Ms. Pham Thi Yen, Prosecutor of Hai Duong Provincial People's Procuracy, said: "Khoa's behavior of beating Mr. Thom was very fierce, continuous, and dangerous. Despite being prevented, Khoa still deliberately committed dangerous acts against Mr. Thom's life, deliberately taking the life of the victim. Stemming from a small conflict while drinking beer, Khoa's act of beating Mr. Thom showed his hooliganism, Khoa must bear criminal responsibility for the crime of murder."

Before the trial, Khoa's family had compensated Mr. Thom a total of 300 million VND. Considering the nature, extent, and behavior, the Trial Panel sentenced Nguyen Van Khoa to 12 years in prison for murder under Point n, Clause 1, Article 123 of the Penal Code and ordered the defendant to compensate Mr. Thom 700 million VND.

Through this heartbreaking case and many other cases that occurred from small conflicts in life, or in anger, drunkenness, it has sounded the alarm bell about the lifestyle and culture of behavior between people. Committing crimes just because of small conflicts not only pushes oneself into a dead end in life but also leaves great pain and burden for relatives and society.

Many cases and incidents have occurred related to alcohol, causing the subjects to lose control of their behavior, leading to conflicts and the use of violence to resolve them. To prevent this, each person needs to raise awareness, avoid excessive alcohol abuse leading to loss of self-control. Local authorities proactively grasp the situation of conflicts occurring in people's lives, promptly take measures to prevent them.