Man dies by hanging in police station

VNRN - October 29, 2014

A man detained by local police was found dead by hanging in his cell in coastal Binh Thuan province early morning Oct 28, the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper reported. Provincial police are now investigating.

The family of Nguyen Van Ha (Nguyễn Văn Hạ), 47, was notified of his death in jail of Tan An ward, La Gi township, at 7 am. Earlier, his wife Huynh Thi Sen (Huỳnh Thị Sen), 46, had come to the police station at 5am to see him but had been told to return later.

When the family arrived, Ha was still hanging on the cell’s metal grill door, facing the door, dangling, according to his daughter Nguyen Thi Diem (Nguyễn Thị Diễm), 21. “The cord was a small drawstring from his shorts, and there was no chair to stand on in the cell,” Diem told the newspaper. “In that position it’s very difficult to hang yourself.”

The police has not even told the family of Ha’s time of death, his wife said.

Ha was arrested while his wife Sen was hiding in a neighbor’s house, avoiding debt collectors. At 1am, Ha’s sister told her Ha was caught burning a neighbor’s motorbike. By the time Sen arrived home at 5am, neighbors told her Ha had been arrested. She then went to the police station to get a key to the house from Ha, and that was when she was told to return later.

Township police refused to comment on the case other than saying it’s under investigation.

This case is just one in many cases of deaths in police custody. Just this past April, an 18-year-old young man was found hung in his jail cell in nearby Quang Nam province. In September, Human Rights Watch issued a 96-page report detailing cases of death and injury in the hands of Vietnamese police, and found them “pervasive” and occurring “throughout Vietnam.”

 

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