HCMC school dismisses rumors of student raped at military center

On Wednesday night, social media was ablaze with posts that a female student at the HCMC University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology (HUFLIT) was raped while undergoing military classes at the Center for National Defense and Security Training of the Military School Military Region 7.

A video circulated online has sounds of people screaming in the night.

A representative of HUFLIT on Wednesday said the information being spread on social media is “seriously untrue,” and that the school has requested authorities to step in, identify whoever was responsible for spreading the false information and to deal with them in accordance with the law.

In a Thursday press meet, Nguyen Tien Son, the political head of the Military School Military Region 7, also dismissed the information as false rumors.

Son said that on Tuesday night, a student discovered that they lost VND1.4 million. The other students staying in the same room suspected that a female student stole it. The student did not say anything, rushed outside, screamed and cried, believing that she was wrongly accused.

After hearing the screams, a management employee brought her downstairs to calm her down and call her family to come get her. Another female student in the opposite building recorded the incident and shared the video online, without specifying exactly what was happening.

Son said the video clip was circulated online Wednesday night, along with many rumors. The school has discussed the matter with the student who recorded the video, and she has rectified the matter on her personal account.

“On Thursday morning, we have gathered students to hear the girl’s rectification of information,” said Son, adding that many people used other images and attributed them to the incident at the school.

At around 9 p.m. Wednesday, the center had issued a document, saying the information and video clips being circulated online are untrue and “have been distorted with bad intentions.”

The center said all activities and military training programs would still be conducted as usual.

All Vietnamese university students attend military classes for around one month during their first year.

The Center for National Defense and Security Training of the Military School Military Region 7, located in District 12, organizes annual military education classes for students at HUFLIT.