Photography and text by Hà Ðào.
In 2017, a woman named Hang Thi Hong Diem killed her husband then dismembered his body at home, a factory worker dormitory in Binh Duong province, Vietnam. The so-called crime of passion made national headlines because of its grotesque yet compelling details.
In front of the court, she recounted what happened on that fateful night. Yet during the four-hour public interrogation, a piece of truth remained elusive, impossible to be put into words.
I was initially drawn to the conflict between the graphic descriptions of the crime and deadpan images of the case in news reports. A seemingly innocent street corner, trash cans, and the interior of a factory worker dormitory took on new meanings when captioned as a crime scene. In hindsight, perhaps what I wanted to find out was to what extent we could know and empathise with the lives of others.
Adopting the role of a stalker or a private investigator, as if in a twisted game, I set out to capture both observed and staged situations in the industrial town of Binh Duong. Combining audio excerpted from the trial – with its chastising male voice – this work attempts to recreate the incident based on the testimony of the woman convicted.
“Members of the jury, please join the questioning of the defendant.”
“When do you think the conflict between your husband and you began?”
“The conflict between my husband and I began three years ago.”
“What caused the conflict?”
“The reason is that my husband has been having affairs with other women.”
“If the conflict was caused by your husband’s affairs with other women, what did you, your husband, and your two families say about it?”
“I did not share this with anyone.”
“Many times, I’ve tried to advise him to forget about the affairs, then we could start over, but he did not listen.”
“On the night of December 15, 2017, who initiated the fight?”
“I asked my husband why he came home so late. He told me, ‘I will go wherever I want to, it’s none of your damn business’.”
“According to the indictment, when the victim said, ‘I will go wherever I want to, leave if you want’.”
“You replied ‘Whatever’.”
“Between husband and wife, it goes without saying, that a bad compromise is better than a good lawsuit. ”
“Although your husband might have said offensive things when he was angry and under the influence, as a woman, do you think by responding ‘Whatever’, it has affected the victim’s psychology?”
“Please answer us. Has your response affected the victim?”
“Yes.”
“When you slashed the victim, did you see the blood coming out?”
"Yes."
“And why did you not stop then?”
“My husband then stood up and grabbed the knife from me so I…”
“You took the Thai knife and continued attacking him, right?”
“Yes.”
“How was the blood coming out? Was it a lot?”
“Yes, your Honour.”
“All over the floor, yeah?”
“As a wife, why didn’t you advise and encourage him? Don’t you think of your family and the relationship between your two families?”
“What you did was extremely barbaric. This only happens in horror movies. ”
“Do you know that this case has shaken the whole society? It sends chills down everyone’s spine.”
“This is beyond imagination.”
“I did not know what went through your head. You diligently cleaned up until 5 in the morning.”
“But how did you remove the flesh from the bones? What knife did you use?”
“I used the meat chopper knife that my husband first used to attack me.”
“In fact, the jury should not delve in too deep. But here we are at the trial, and it should be clarified.”
“Why did you chop off the victim’s genitals?”
“At that moment I did it without thinking much.”
“You said you didn’t think, meaning it was on autopilot?”
“Yes.”
“I have no further questions.”
Audio excerpts from the court hearing of Hang Thi Hong Diem at People’s Court of Binh Duong Province in 2018.
Hà Ðào is a photographer and artist based in Hanoi, Vietnam. Drawn by the quiet drama in everyday life, she started out making images that take an imaginative approach to the documentary genre and are built upon close observations mixed with loose associations, often through the lens of gender and sexuality. Her current practice incorporates multimedia and explores stories of love on the margin. Her works have been showcased at Higashikawa Bunka Gallery (Japan), Manzi Art Space (Vietnam), Xie Zilong Museum (China) and Objectifs Centre of Photography & Film (Singapore), and featured in the British Journal of Photography, Photoworks, Trans Asia Photography Journal, among others. She is the recipient of the 38th Higashikawa Award in the Overseas Photographer category and the Seed Award from the Prince Claus Foundation. Ha co-runs Matca, an independent initiative dedicated to opening conversations around photography in Vietnam.
