HANOI (Reuters) — A Vietnamese woman forced her 10-year-old stepson to stitch up his mouth as a punishment for stealing 200 dong (1.3 cents), police said on Tuesday.
Phan Thi Hien, 31, handed the boy a needle and thread after beating him severely for stealing the money in Bac Ninh, east of Hanoi, an officer there said.
"She did not do it herself but she forced the boy to it while she was watching," he told Reuters. "It was just one stitch."
Media reports said the woman had threatened to tell the boy's father of the theft if he refused.
The Cong An Nhan Dan (People's Police) newspaper said Hien would be prosecuted on a charge of ill-treating a child.
However, the officer said she had not been detained.
The Gia Dinh & Xa Hoi (Family and Society) newspaper carried a photograph of the boy with bruises covering his body and face and needle scars on his top and lower lips.