Local media said the woman seemed to have been struggling in her business and feel short of cash.
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Pictures published by the official police newspaper showed the woman three months later, with her wounds healed. The woman’s action has evoked strong reactions on social media, with many criticising her for stooping so low for money, while others are sympathising with her.
According to police in Bac Tu Liem District in Hanoi, in the early hours of the morning of May 5, Doan Van D., whose first name was withheld, came to the police station to report a train accident in which a woman, identified only as L.T.N., had lost her left hand and left foot.
Facebook user Ly Phan, commented: “A very typical case of insurance fraud”. On the bright side – if we can even call it that – police have made a decision to drop all criminal charges against the two scammers, having decided that the woman’s disability is punishment enough.
She told the police she had been wandering near the railway track when a train that went by “dragged” her in.
Another user said she felt sympathy for the woman.
The accomplice – Mr Doan Van D – posed as a stranger but the Daily Mail reported that the police became suspicious when they began investigating Ms Ly’s private life.
He said: “We need a new article for this kind of fraud”.
According to one BBC report, the police dropped the criminal investigation against the duo, Vietnam’s Tuoi Tre newspaper said. Le Van Luan, of the Hanoi Bar Association, told the BBC that it would be hard under existing laws to find an appropriate provision to charge the woman and her accomplice. The woman later admitted to having paid the man 50m Vietnamese dong for chopping off her limbs.
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Digging even deeper, investigators found that Ly Thi N’s business was struggling and she had bought a very large health insurance policy just before the awful accident. Her self-harm is disgusting and extremely rare’.
