The police in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 4 have prosecuted a retired prosecutor after more than two weeks of public outrage.Deputy Head of the Danang City People's Procuracy Nguyen Huu Linh has been prosecuted for child sexual molestation. The 61-year-old suspect was granted bail by the investigation agency but forbidden to leave his residence. The prosecution was approved by the municipal procuracy, VnExpress reported.
A CCTV camera shows Nguyen Huu Linh hugging and kissing a child girl inside an elevator
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Linh, retired in the middle of 2018 and a lawyer of the Danang Bar Association, was caught hugging and kissing a 7-year-old girl in an elevator of an apartment building in District 4 on April 1.
According to investigators and surveillance camera, Linh traveled from Danang to HCM city to visit his son living in the Galaxy 9 Apartment Building. On the evening of April 1, Linh entered the elevator after the girl then hugged and kissed her. The victim was seen horrified but the man continued hugging her for a second time despite her resistance. When the girl’s parents knew the assault, they decided to reconcile and requested not to release the video from a surveillance camera in order to protect their daughter.
However, not until the evening of April 2 was the video released to social media and did anger the public. The Supreme People's Procuracy asked local authorities to cooperate to investigate and strictly deal with this case.
The investigation initially encountered some obstacles when the victim (accompanied by her mom) said that she had been kissed and hugged by the suspect twice. However, Linh said he didn't touch the girl sexually, he only hugged her because of her cuteness.
On April 5, the HCM City Association for Protection of Child's Rights sent a request to the police and the People's Procuracy in District 4 to prosecute Linh for committing sexual crime against people under 16 years old prescribed in Article 146 of the Penal Code 2015.If convicted, the offender could be jailed from six months to a maximum of 12 years.
Recently, the residents at Galaxy 9 Apartment Building in HCM City sent a letter to urge the local government to prosecute the former official of Danang City for child sexual abuse. They expressed their concern when the investigation had no movement in work. Netizens and local newspapers also expressed their anger and asked for justice to be done.
