Murder Rate Climbs In 2021

Source: Vientiane Times

The year 2021 saw some brutal crimes committed, which hit the headlines and caused deep consternation among members of the public.

One of the most shocking murders took place in July, when police found the bodies of two young women in a house in Xaysettha district, Vientiane, after they had been shot to death, while another woman was injured.

Police said the shooting occurred following a dispute between a woman and her ex-husband.

Prior to the shooting, a court had assigned custody of their two young sons to the woman, but when the couple returned to her house, her ex-husband shot both her and her sister.

In a second case that occurred in July, which took place in Oudomxay province, a husband and wife got into a heated argument while farming, after which the husband killed his wife and 2-year-old son with an axe and then shot himself. It is thought he was under the influence of drugs at the time.

A third incident took place in August when a man was shot dead as he was driving through Xaysettha district in Vientiane, with police discovering his body in a bullet-ridden car.

The man was a resident of Vientiane and he was killed because of a dispute with his drug dealing associates. Police found numerous illegal items in his bag, including a bombie, two guns and 28 bullets, a bag of amphetamine tablets, a packet of powder assumed to be a drug, and other items.

The man was also wanted on suspicion of killing his wife. He had been on the run since her murder in April and the Vientiane Prosecutor’s Office had issued a warrant for his arrest.

In another incident, a 21-year-old man living in Saravan province, who was said to be a drug addict, murdered a young woman and injured another while they were at work in their cassava field.

In a fifth killing, a man living in Champassak province murdered another man because he thought he was having an affair with his wife.

A sixth case involved a man in Huaphan province, who murdered his daughter-in-law after she refused to give him money to buy drugs. He went on the run for three months but was tracked down and arrested.

Another murder took place when an 18-year-old youth living in Bokeo province killed his Chinese employer after being insulted by him.

A seventh case resulted in the arrest of a man in Champassak province after he killed a 12-year-old girl during an attempted burglary.

In Huaphan province, a 73-year-old man, who was a known drug user, was convicted of the murder of his wife.

In the tenth murder recorded by police, a young man living in Champassak province killed his 8-month-old son at his home while under the influence of drugs.