Le Van Het - Photo: Cong An Nhan Dan

Le Van Het, 38, and his 30-year-old wife, Tran Thi Nhieu Em, were arrested a few days ago and have been prosecuted for “appropriating children” according to Article 120 of the Criminal Code, said police from the province’s Di An Town, where the couple lived in a rented house.

Het will be detained for four months for investigation while his wife is being let out on bail as she is nursing her baby, police said.

According to the case file, the couple arrived at the Que Huong Humanitarian Center in the town’s Tan Dong Hiep Ward on the night of September 29, when a lantern parade to welcome the Mid-Autumn Festival for children was taking place there.

Het and Em then managed to kidnap the 3-year-old girl when her mother, Nguyen Thi Huong, of central Quang Binh Province, wasn’t paying attention.

The couple then took the girl home and began to bring her up as their own daughter. A few days later, the owner of the house became suspicious of the origin of the kid, so he reported the case to police, who launched an investigation and then discovered the crime.

The couple explained to police that they committed the kidnapping only because they had longed for a daughter, since they have already given birth to four boys.

Tuoi Tre