Rape charge for Vietnam sportsman

VIETNAM has charged a former senior sports official with the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl in what reportedly was his attempt to rid himself of bad luck, state-controlled media said.

According to the police report, 52-year-old Luong Quoc Dung, former vice chairman of the sports ministry, assaulted the girl in a hotel room on December 30 after paying his former mistress, Nguyen Quynh Nga, $1,000 to procure the girl.

State-controlled media reported that Dung requested the meeting because he was experiencing a spate of bad luck and believed having sex with a virgin would end it.