Phạm Thị Thiên Hà (centre) in court on Friday morning. — Photo dantri.com.vn

BÌNH DƯƠNG — A woman who murdered two men and encased their bodies in concrete has been sentenced to death.  

Phạm Thị Thiên Hà followed a controversial religious cult but took its practices to extreme measures, insisting members fasted for up to two weeks at a time and cut all ties with their families.

When one of her cult members tried to escape, Hà and others murdered him and buried his body in concrete.

Three other members of the organisation, which practised Falun Gong, were jailed for between 13 and 22 years.

The Bình Dương Province People’s Court on Friday sentenced 32-year-old Hà to death.

Her mother, 67-year-old Trịnh Thị Hồng Hoa, was jailed for 13 years, Lê Ngọc Phương Thảo, 30 and 40-year-old Nguyễn Ngọc Tâm Huyên were sent to prison for 22 years and 19 years respectively for the murder of two people.  

The first victim was Trần Đức Linh, 50, from the central province of Nghệ An. His body was encased in concrete.

He was killed after trying to flee the group in January last year.

The second victim was Trần Trí Thành, 27, from HCM City. During his time with the group he broke their strict rules by eating, masturbating and had intentions to have sex with other members, according to testimonies of the defendants.

He was electrocuted and strangled to death. When his body began to decompose, Hà placed him inside a container with concrete poured into it.

Their corpses were only discovered when the owner of the house where the bodies were dumped broke in and made the grim discovery. — VNS