Police on Thursday confirmed they have detained a couple in HCM City who allegedly used a child to beg for money to buy drugs.

Photo captured from a clip showing a woman holding a sleeping girl in her arms begs for money at the gate of the Children’s Hospital No 2 in District 1, HCM City. — Video clip nguoitieudung.com.vn

Police of District 1’s Bến Nghé Ward said they were investigating a woman and a man who appeared in a clip that went viral over the last few days. In the clip, the woman, identified as 31-year-old Nguyễn Thị Hồng Nga, sits idly at the gate of Children’s Hospital No 2 in District 1. Holding a sleeping baby girl of about three years old in her arms, she begs for money from passers-by. 

After leaving her begging spot at the hospital, Nga meets up with a man and together they take a bus to Alley 28 on Đỗ Quang Đẩu Street in District 1. They inject themselves with what is believed to be drugs inside the alley in front of the baby, and even inject the child, the clip reveals. 

The police have identified the man as Đặng Hoàng Vinh, 27, who is Nga’s lover, and the girl as Nga’s daughter.  

Nga returned from a rehab centre in Bình Dương Province in July this year, but quickly relapsed into drugs. 

She admitted to the police she earned some VNĐ500,000 (US$22) a day from begging, of which she spent roughly VNĐ300,000 to buy drugs. 

Bến Nghé Police said they had taken the child for a drugs test and were awaiting results before proceeding further with the case. — VNS