The 13-year-old girl who claimed to have been raped by a Cebu-based lawyer-broadcaster has been reported missing for five days by her parents, prompting Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to offer a P20,000 cash reward for anyone who can provide information on the teen’s whereabouts.
Osmeña made this announcement after the girl’s parents visited his office yesterday morning to ask for the mayor’s help in searching for their child.
They also requested Osmeña to urge the National Bureau of Investigation in the region (NBI-7) to file a rape case against the lawyer-broadcaster, whose name is being withheld pending the filing of formal charges against him at the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office.
Missing
The mother said her daughter went missing since Friday, July 21, after she left her at the lobby of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center’s (VSMMC) pink room, where victims of rape and their relatives are made to undergo psychosocial debriefing to manage the trauma inflicted in the aftermath of a sexual assault.
She said her daughter was left alone in the lobby at around 2 p.m. when it was her turn to be interviewed by the attending physician regarding the status of her child. But when she went back to the lobby, her daughter, she added, was no longer there.
She also said that they were escorted to the hospital by two representatives of NBI-7 who failed to return after the officers requested to be excused for lunch.
“Sila man unta magdala namo sa Vicente Sotto, gibiyaan man hinuon me. Nagduda lang me sa unsa jud ilang tuyo ngadto (They were supposed to be the ones to bring us to Vicente Sotto, but instead, they left. We are beginning to doubt their real intentions),” the victim’s mother said.
She added that she went straight home to inform the girl’s father, her live-in partner, who works as a sikad (bicycle-for-hire) driver.
The girl’s father told reporters that they spent “sleepless nights” trying to trace the whereabouts of their child from their relatives, and her classmates and friends. They also opened their daughter’s Facebook account.
But their attempts on locating her were futile.
“Ang among gidudahan run, gi-abduct na siya. Dili ra man siya mabasta-basta ug kawala, minor baya (We now suspect that she was abducted. A minor does not just vanish into thin air),” he said.
A few hours after their daughter failed to return home, a black vehicle allegedly passed by their residence at around 5 p.m., and someone disembarked from the car.
A man reportedly approached them and tried to negotiate not to pursue the filing of a case against the lawyer-broadcaster.
“Wala man siya nagpaila. Nidirecho ra man siya ug negotiate lagi namo (He did not introduce himself. He just immediately tried to negotiate with us),” the mother said.
Doubts on NBI
The parents expressed their doubts on NBI’s promise to help them file the rape case against the lawyer-broadcaster.
The mother revealed that they already submitted the necessary documents for NBI to file the case against the suspect, which included the sworn affidavits of the girl and the security guard of the radio station where the suspect worked as an anchor and commentator.
Results of a medical examination conducted on the child confirming traces of forceful sexual contact resulting in the laceration of her hymen were also submitted to the NBI two weeks ago.
Believing that the NBI was reluctant to file the rape case, the parents resorted to asking the mayor for his help.
Osmeña’s executive assistant, Francisco Fernandez, told the City Hall reporters that not only did the mayor promise to give a cash reward for information on the girl’s whereabouts; Osmeña also plans to publish the girl’s picture and her name on local newspapers without mentioning that she is a victim of rape.
“We plan it to look like she’s just one of the reported missing minors in the city. A missing minor in Cebu City is indeed an issue that needs to be acted upon immediately, and how much more if that missing minor is involved in a case against a high-profile suspect?” Fernandez explained .
Fernandez also said Osmeña has asked NBI-7 to file the case against the lawyer-broadcaster as soon as possible.
The alleged abuse happened last July 4 inside the lawyer’s car but was reported to police about a week later. According to the girl, the lawyer-broadcaster raped her while she was in his car after he offered her a ride home.
The girl was in the radio station to collect money from another anchorman who was her mother’s employer, but the anchorman she was looking for was not around.
Read more:
13-year-old ‘rape’ victim missing | Cebu Daily News
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13-year-old ‘rape’ victim missing
Originally Posted by DEMONOCIETY
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