Going out on a limb: Vietnamese woman cuts off her hand and foot in botched insurance payout scam
A Vietnamese woman paid a friend to cut off her hand and foot in a bid to claim a handsome insurance payout, state-run media reported on Thursday.
The woman, identified only as L. T. N., checked into a Hanoi hospital in May with one third of her left foot and one third of her left hand severed, but doctors told her they could not reattach the limbs.
The greatest shame is that N., instead of claiming the money, has suffered a huge loss by losing both her hand and foot
She later told police she was struck by a train as she walked on the tracks and was rescued by her friend Doan Van D., according to Tuoi Tre’s English edition.
The 30-year-old submitted a claim to her insurance company for 3.5 billion dong (US$130,000), a huge sum in Vietnam where the average monthly income is US$2,100.
But authorities smelled a fraud.
“N. hired D. to cut her hand and foot, then continued to have him report false information to the police,” said Bac Tu Liem police chief Nguyen Thanh Tung said, according to the newspaper.