On 7/5, Nguyen Minh Hiep, 22, residing in Ninh Binh province, was indicted and temporarily detained by the Hanoi Police Investigation Agency for murder. Ban Thi Tam, 20, from Tuyen Quang, the victim's birth mother, is also being considered for related responsibility.

According to initial information, Hiep and Ban Thi Tam, 20, from Tuyen Quang, lived together as husband and wife. Tam had a child from a previous relationship, a 4-year-old girl, who was brought to live with Hiep since March in a rental room of about 20 square meters in Phu Dien ward, Hanoi.

At the police agency, Hiep and Tam confessed to repeatedly abusing the girl over the previous month. Every few days, they used sandals, brooms, dustpan handles, and clothes hangers to beat the child.

During the first three days of May, the girl was also starved, denied food and drink, and forced to wear a heavy water bottle around her neck.

Suspect Nguyen Minh Hiep. Photo: *Bao Bao ve phap luat*.

The peak of the abuse occurred on 3/5. That morning, Hiep forced the girl to wear a 5-liter water bottle around her neck as "punishment" for being slow to brush her teeth and wash her face. When the girl was scared, he hit her face with a sandal, causing her to fall to the floor. Ignoring the girl alone in the rental room afterward, Hiep took Tam for a prenatal check-up and then went out.

Returning home that afternoon, seeing the child eating snacks, Tam hit her daughter and forced her to take a bath by herself. While the child was playing in the bathroom, Hiep went in and continued to beat her. Seeing her de facto husband abusing her child, Tam did not intervene until the girl showed signs of stopped breathing.

Discovering the girl lying motionless, the two attempted first aid but failed, so they took her to the emergency room. The girl was admitted to E Hospital in a state of circulatory arrest and deep coma, with numerous bruises on her body. Doctors determined the patient had a very high risk of death due to over 99% body damage. By the afternoon of 6/5, the girl died.