Rape allegations on Vietnam’s military training surface, university denies claims

SHAH ALAM - Claims have surfaced on social media about two female students being sexually assaulted on Vietnam’s military school campus.

A person who spoke on the condition of anonymity revealed on a website that one of the victims was a friend and that she was allegedly sexually assaulted when she committed the compulsory military course on Jan 10.

What was more heartbreaking was that she claimed that the victim had ended her life after the horrible incident.

“The food in the military school was terrible, the campus was covered in drama and every student must live and study with the fear of being raped and videotaped.

“Even if we put them on our university page, we would probably be forced to delete them, that’s why I have to come here to tell this story.

“(This is also) to remind everyone to be careful when attending your compulsory military training courses,” it said.

The issue had also blown up on other social media platforms, where it claimed the two female students were sexually assaulted by 12 soldiers.

Videos had circulated of the front of the school where female voices were heard screaming as well as the sound of men’s voices conversing in foreign language.

Online users claimed the men’s voices were of the military and when translated, meant ‘open your legs wider’.

The university involved, however, came forward and denied the rape allegations which involved their soldiers on Thursday, Jan 12.

According to an international media outlet, VN Express, it was reported that the videos of people hysterically screaming were tainted by bad intentions and said it was a fight between two female students.

Zone Seven Military School Political head Nguyen Tien Son said a student had discovered that she had lost 1.4 million VND.

From there, other students started to point fingers at a particular female student which caused a dispute and the accused began to scream - as she was believed to be falsely accused.

The chaos was then recorded by another female student with her phone and posted online - regardless of comprehending the actual situation happened.

As the video had gathered numbers and also rumours, the military school had discussed the issue with the student, who recorded the video and she then posted the matter on her personal account.

“On Thursday morning, we gathered all the head students of each room to hear the girl’s rectification of information,” he said.

Local media outlet reported that the school’s principal Nguyen Anh Tuan was astounded by the false accusations.

“I was sent malicious messages by phone and social media due to this disinformation.

“However, the truth is the truth,” Tuan added.