Going through the darkness

Many years ago, Tran Ut Em, in Lich Hoi Thuong commune, Tran De district, Soc Trang province, was enticed by bad people to commit an offence. After serving his sentence, he returned home where he received assistance and encouragement from the local authorities to rebuild his life.

Ut Em's house is located next to a ditch with long rows of green trees. Under the porch, the sounds of children singing and laughing filled the sky. Seeing the group coming to visit, Ms. Ly Thi Mung, Mr. Ut Em's wife, happily came out to welcome them.

Major Thach Quoc Thi, Head of Lich Hoi Thuong Commune Police, informed that the circumstances of Mr. Ut Em's fall were quite special. At that time, his brother was seriously ill and needed a blood transfusion. The cost of treating his brother is expensive, about 2 million VND per day. Ut Em's house, land, and even his motorbike were sold to pay for his brother's treatment.

In dire straits, not knowing where to find the money to give his brother a chance to continue treatment, Ut Em was invited by some bad guys to steal property. At first he refused, but watching his brother languish day by day on the hospital bed, he let his hands "get involved"...

However, the first time they participated in the theft, Ut Em and his accomplices were discovered. He ran away in fear, but his accomplices turned back to fight back, determined to rob him.

The case was solved by the police. Ut Em himself realized his actions so he turned himself in. When the court tried him, thanks to his confession, he was given leniency and was only sentenced to 3 years.

Ut Em confided that the longing for his family and the desire to be free and to return to being an honest person made him feel even more regretful and understand the consequences of his impulsive actions. It was the nostalgia for his family that motivated him to feel secure in reforming. During his time in prison, due to his good behavior, his sentence was reduced and he was released ahead of schedule.

Returning to the locality, at first he could not avoid feeling guilty. He admitted that it was a really difficult time for himself and his family. However, thanks to the encouragement and sharing of his relatives, the concern of his neighbors, especially the help of the Party Committee, the government and local departments, branches and organizations, he dismissed those words. business, cultivate the will to do business, restore the family economy.

With the enthusiastic help of Lich Hoi Thuong Commune Police, Mr. Ut Em was facilitated in completing procedures such as renewing identity cards, entering household registration and other documents to serve job applications and employment. eat…

“Over the past time, Ut Em has well complied with the provisions of the law and participated in village and hamlet work. Cases that return after serving their sentences are often discriminated against by everyone. They feel guilty and may leave to live elsewhere. If the locality does not care to help, the road to rebuilding their lives will be very bumpy, and they may even be enticed by bad people to return to their old ways. Therefore, we pay great attention and often go to encourage and propagate the State's legal guidelines and policies to raise awareness for them," said Major Thach Quoc Thi.

Currently, Ut Em and his wife work as hired laborers at a shrimp farm, and are paid 3 meals a day by the owner, with a total monthly income of about 8 million VND. Due to his hard work and taking care of shrimp according to technical procedures, his and his wife's shrimp pond has a large yield and the shrimp grows quickly. After each harvest, the lagoon owner also rewards the couple with tens of millions of dong.

His family's economy is currently quite stable, and his children have good conditions for education. The couple saved and collected 200 million VND to build a solid house to protect them from rain and sun.

“Through the years of mistakes, I have learned a lot. Now I just hope to have good health and work hard so my children can study well. Even though I am poor, I still encourage my wife not to let her children be uneducated," Ut Em said.

Create a social welfare fulcrum 

In 2012, due to an impulsive youth when a collision or scuffle occurred, Mr. Huynh Van Duc, My Xuyen district, Soc Trang province, had to pay the price with an 8-year prison sentence. After 6 years and 9 months, with the spirit of good reform and good compliance with regulations, he was able to return to his locality.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Quoc Chi, Deputy Captain of the Criminal Judgment Enforcement and Judicial Support Police Team of My Xuyen District Police, the District Police are very interested in community reintegration with law violators. . Recently, the District Police have advised the Party Committee and District People's Committee to support community reintegration for subjects who have completed their prison sentences.

Regularly meet, educate, grasp thoughts and aspirations to promptly share, encourage, introduce jobs, and support loans for family economic development. Functional sectors also strengthen propaganda and lobby companies,Businesses and social communities accept people with criminal records to work, helping them have stable jobs and contributing to preventing recidivism.

Therefore, when Mr. Duc returned and lacked capital to do business, the District Police instructed him to write an application for a loan with preferential interest rates from the district's Social Policy Bank. With a capital of 40 million VND, he invested in buying a motorbike to work as a construction assistant, partly as capital for his wife to sell fish at My Xuyen market. After a period of hard work, he and his wife paid off the loan.

From the accumulated money, in the coming time, Mr. Duc will implement economic ideas and expand business to increase his family's income.

“Thanks to the local attention, I have had many changes and my family is better off. I feel like I have to try to cultivate, train, and become a useful person for the community," Mr. Duc said.

Mr. Duc further shared that during the process of serving his sentence, from the love of his family, wife and children, he gradually realized the true value of life, realizing the meaning of peaceful days. Therefore, the day he returned brought a lot of emotions. That was the day he stepped out of darkness and onto the path of goodness.

It can be seen that, with the care and sharing of party committees, authorities, branches and organizations in localities in Soc Trang province, those who have made mistakes have found a way to rebuild their lives and regain their lives. faith in life, striving to become a useful citizen for family and society.

In particular, creating a fulcrum for security and taking care of the lives of those who have made mistakes is the right policy, not only creating motivation for these cases to rise up in life but also bringing sustainability in poverty reduction. socio-economic development, creating trust for people in the Party and State.

Quynh Nga