The couple Nguyễn Minh Tuấn and Nguyễn Thị Lan Anh at the court on Thursday. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Hà Nội People’s Court on Thursday sentenced a 31-year-old man to death for murdering his three-year-old step-daughter while the victim’s mother was sentenced to life in prison for the same crime.

The victim was the daughter of Nguyễn Thị Lan Anh, 29, resident in Phương Liên Ward, Đống Đa District, and her first husband.

After divorcing her first husband, Lan Anh lived with her mother in Hà Nội’s suburban district of Đông Anh and gave birth to her daughter in September 2017.

When the child was three months old, she married Nguyễn Minh Tuấn and they rented a house in Phương Liên. Lan Anh’s mother raised her daughter.

In early March this year, Lan Anh took her daughter to her house in Phương Liên. It was reported that from March 9, as the child did not obey the couple, they out her inside a plastic washbasin.

On March 29 morning, the child was punished for asking for a rice cake and forced to kneel in the washbasin.

At the trial, the couple admitted that Tuấn used narcotics and then beat the child throughout that night.

At around 8am the next morning, the child was taken to the hospital after having difficulty breathing and a fever. The child died before arriving at Hà Nội Medical University Hospital where doctors said that she had suffered from cranial subsidence, brain damage and a jaw fracture.

Neighbours living near the flat said they had heard consistent crying since the toddler arrived.

Lan Anh’s mother claimed the toddler was abused by Lan Anh and her husband for 24 days and posted pictures showing the injuries to the toddler on social media. — VNS