Tran Van Duc, 35, stopped the girl when she was cycling home from school in the late afternoon on February 16, forced her into a graveyard and raped her.

He left her there and fled. The police arrested him the same day after the parents found the girl and reported to the police.

Besides the imprisonment, the court also ordered Duc to pay the victim VND70 million ($3,000) in compensation.

According to official data, out of 1,600 cases of child abuse in Vietnam last year, 80 percent involved sexual assault, many in places considered safe such as home and school.

In most cases, the perpetrators were someone close to the children or having authority over them, such as neighbors, relatives or teachers.