~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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Vietnam police threatened to torture, jail 10-year-old girl accused of stealing US$3

HANOI - Police in southern Vietnam threatened to torture and jail a 10-year-old girl accused of stealing the equivalent of US$3 (?2.2), causing the child to suffer mental trauma, officials and state media said Wednesday. The fifth grader from Dong Thap province was taken to a police station last month by her teachers after they suspected she stole 47,000 dong (US$3; ?2.2) from her classroom, said Huynh Hoang Chung, director of Chau Thanh district's education department.

In a closed room, two police officers interrogated the girl for two hours without her parents' presence. They threatened to torture and jail her if she did not confess, the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper quoted the girl's parents as saying. The girl maintained her innocence and was released after questioning, the report said. The two police officers have been suspended while the incident is being investigated, said Vo Van Phuoc, vice chair of the local People's Committee. After the incident, the girl hid herself and refused to go back to school. She has since been hospitalized, and doctors say she is suffering from psychological problems, Chung said.

"In this case, the teachers and the police were absolutely wrong. They violated the law and children's rights and should be condemned," said Tran Minh Hong of the Dong Thap provincial committee for population, family and children protection. In Vietnam, corporal punishment is common in schools.

The Associated Press - April 11, 2007.