VietNamNet Bridge – Tran Thi Phung, who was caught abusing a three-year-old girl in a video clip disseminated online, was prosecuted and held in custody at the order of the People's Procuracy in Binh Duong Province's Thuan An District.


Child carer held over abuse claim


Tran Thi Phung. (Photo: Internet)
Phung, 52, who runs a nursery in the district's Thuan Giao Commune, was charged with physical abuse and maltreatment of children according to criminal law, said prosecutors.


A hidden camera recorded Phung stomping on the body, pulling the hair and splashing water into the mouth of Ho Thuy Ngoc Ngan, one of the children entrusted to her care.


The clip was launched on the internet last Tuesday and immediately stirred anger across the country.


Local police tracked down the nursery just several hours later. Phung admitted to being the woman in the video, but said she had just been washing the girl as she normally did.


The footage was clear enough for criminal prosecution, and investigation was still underway, said provincial prosecutor Tran Tri Thuc.


The commune's Hoa Mai Kindergarten offered to care for Ngan even though it was already overloaded, said the kindergarten's principal Nguyen Thi Hau.


Ngan's mother, a worker at the locally based Hai My Footwear Company, was given several days off to take care of her daughter.


VietNamNet/Viet Nam News