Nguyen Thi Thoa, principle of Dong Lac Pre-school has been accused of mistreating her 8-year-old adopted daughter in Dong Lac Commune of Cho Don District in the northern province of Bac Kan.
Apparently on May 23, the abused girl Nong Thi Loan ran into the forest to seek help after Thoa beat her up so severely that the child sprained her left arm.
Loan related that after returning from school she picked two sapodilla plums from the garden at home while weeding the garden. When her adopted mother came home, she asked her where she got the plums. Loan said that she had picked them in the garden, at which the mother beat her with a stick until it broke and continued to strike her with a bamboo broom.
As soon as Thoa left to take a meal, Loan ran away.
According to Doctor Hoang Thi Ong from the health clinic in Dong Lac Commune, Loan was feeling traumatized and physically unable to move with a dislocated arm.
Ms. Thoa adopted Nong Thi Loan, an orphan from Cao Tri Commune in Ba Be District in the beginning of 2010.
Everyday the girl had to work hard, cooking, cleaning dishes, washing clothes, collecting firewood from the forest, cutting grass for buffalos and taking care of the saplings in the garden. Despite this she continually had to suffer rebuke and thrashing from Thoa.
Nong The Thai, director of the Department of Education and Training in Cho Don District said that his department had verified the case and has asked Thoa to provide a written report.
He said that the case had also been reported to the Department of Education and Training in the province and the Party Committee of the district. Disciplinary action will be taken against the adopted mother.
According to Nong Van Hieu, deputy chief of the police force in Cho Don District, Ms. Thoa has acknowledged her bad behavior.