Two nannies prosecuted for abusing 17-month-old boy to death

>>> The family situation of the 17-month-old boy who was beaten to death by two female teachers

On March 5, Thuong Tin District Police (Hanoi) initiated a criminal case, prosecuted the accused, and temporarily detained two nannies, Nguyen Thi An (30 years old) and Nguyen Thi Lanh (31 years old, both residing in Phu Xuyen, Hanoi) to investigate the case of abuse of a 17-month-old boy to death.

According to the investigation, at around 5:00 p.m. on March 1, Thuong Tin District Police received a report that baby PTĐ. (17 months old, residing in Van Diem Commune, Thuong Tin District) died from a suspected fall while being sent to a spontaneous childcare facility in the area.

Immediately afterwards, the police summoned the two babysitters, An and Lanh, to work.

At the police station, the two suspects initially stated that the boy fell on his own and was not affected by any external factors. However, after comparing the evidence and documents, combined with the process of fighting with An and Lanh, the police found many irregularities.

The two defendants later changed their statements, saying that Lanh walked backwards and bumped into D., causing the child to fall to the floor, and that An slipped and caused the victim to fall and hit his head.

Defendants An (left) and Lanh at the police station - Photo: Provided by the police

With this statement, the police found many points inconsistent with the injuries on the victim's body, so they continued to fight.

After about a day, An and Lanh confessed to beating and abusing baby D., causing injuries and death.

Accordingly, on the morning of February 23, D. was taken by her mother to An and Lanh's class. At around 9 o'clock, when the children were taken to their bedroom, D. cried and ran outside.

Seeing that, Lanh was angry, used both hands to pick D. up and threw him down, causing the boy's head to hit the floor.

Then, Lanh used his hand to slap the victim. Meanwhile, An used his feet to kick the child's stomach, chest, and head.

At around 4:30 p.m. the same day, when the child's parents came to pick up their child, the two suspects said that D. had fallen by himself.

On February 24, 25, and 26, the boy continued to be taken to class.

On the morning of February 26, when he saw D. crying, An kicked her in the stomach again. The kick knocked the victim unconscious.

An and Lanh called the child's family and then took the victim to the emergency room.

Preliminary results determined the cause of baby D's death to be traumatic brain injury, bleeding and cerebral edema.

During the investigation, these two defendants also confessed to repeatedly abusing D. to discipline the child because he was a new student.

During the process of working with the police, the defendants An and Lanh both felt remorseful and cried when recounting their sinful actions and asked the family of the 17-month-old boy for forgiveness, so that they could have a chance to start their lives over.

According to local leaders, An and Lanh's spontaneous childcare facility was ordered to close and fined twice by Van Diem commune for not ensuring operating conditions.

According to Tuoi Tre