SEEKING JUSTICE. The 14-year-old rape victim (left) with her parents at the police station in Caibiran, Biliran. Two other victims also sought the assistance of the local police to file charges against the same rape suspect. (PNA photo by Roel Amazona
CAIBIRAN, Biliran -- The parent of a sexual assault victim in this town has asked other victims to have the courage to come out and file complaints against their perpetrators.
The 34-year-old father of the victim, in an interview Tuesday at the police station here, said victims should seek help from authorities to punish the rapist and save other potential victims.
He only learned about what happened to his 14-year-old daughter when he noticed her being disoriented last September 21.
The victim narrated to her father that the incident took place one early morning last year when the suspect, Martin Sulla, 57, a local government employee, allegedly grabbed her while passing by the latter’s apartment.
The Caibiran town police station arrested Sulla on Sept. 22 and he has been detained at the Biliran Provincial Hospital due to fluctuating blood pressure.
The suspect has been accused of molesting the 14-year-old girl several times.
Medico-legal report showed laceration in the victim’s private parts and the presence of spermatozoa.
The father said that the first incident happened in 2018 when the suspect asked her daughter to clean his house. The suspect touched the private parts of the victim even in the presence of the victim’s siblings.
The incident happened again this year when the suspect and the victim attended a wake. A cousin of the victim saw the suspect touched the girl’s private parts.
“I am asking other victims to come out and report to the police what they experience from the hand of the suspect,” the girl's father said. Because of trauma, the victim stopped going to school.
When asked for his reaction, the suspect refused to answer the media as per the advice of his legal counsel.
Caibiran town police chief, Lt. Vic Viros said there might be other victims of the suspect but they are afraid to come out because they are either ashamed or scared.
Aside from the girl, two other victims also sought the assistance of the local police to file charges against the same suspect. One is a 14-year old girl and the other one is a 13-year old boy.
The Provincial Prosecutor’s Office filed acts of lasciviousness charges against the suspect and formally received complaints filed by two other minor victims.
“Based on the testimony of the victim, there is sufficient information to file rape charges against the suspect,” Viros said.
The town and provincial social welfare and development offices in Biliran have committed to help the victims. Social workers said they are ready to relocate the victims into a shelter after assessment. (PNA)
