Child Rapists Indicted in Court
April 15, 2020 ·
Child Rapists Indicted in Court
After more than a year of keeping her ordeal to herself, Maria (not her real name) can now finally tell her story when two of her rapists were indicted in court due to separate rape cases she filed in December 2019.
Maria, a daughter of a poor garbage collector in Subic, was only 13 years old when she was raped by a village official in 2018. This village official raped her twice. In the second incident, a witness saw the village official already pulling his pants up apparently immediately after having raped Maria. However, nothing was done after that. Because he threatened her and her family with death, Maria was silenced.
What happened to Maria became the talk of the town but no help was given to her. The rapist remained free and continued to work in the village hall. A few months after, the impunity that the village official enjoyed emboldened another rapist to rape Maria. This time, a witness decided to seek help on behalf of Maria. The witness reported what she saw to Maria’s parents, the local social worker and the police.
At the police station, Maria gave her statement to the investigating police officer. Because the rapists were threatening and harassing Maria and her family, the local social worker referred her to the Preda home where she is safe from her abusers.
At Preda, Maria received support and encouragement from the staff and her fellow children. She became steadfast in her decision to fight for justice. Escorted by the Preda social worker, she attended the preliminary investigations conducted by the investigating prosecutor and confidently answered clarificatory questions. The suspects, meanwhile, hired private counsels.
Last month, Maria received the good news that the cases she filed against her rapists were both elevated by the investigating prosecutor to the family court for a full blown trial. She is looking forward to testify in court after the lifting of the government order imposing enhanced community quarantine.
