A 30-YEAR-OLD woman who is deaf mute was raped by her fellow churchmate, a 20-year-old deaf man, in Mandaue public cemetery. The incident was reported Monday morning (January 23).
Police Officer 1 Juliet Trogo said the incident happened last January 15, but the victim told her parents about it Monday, January 23.
Police said that around 6 p.m., Dina (real name withheld) was waiting for a ride home after a fellowship gathering in their church in Alang-Alang, Mandaue City, when Jano (not real name) followed Dina and forcibly brought her to the nearby Mandaue Public Cemetery.
Dina told her parents what happened. After knowing what Jano did to their daughter, the parents, together with an interpreter, went to the house of the suspect in Barangay Umapad and brought him to Mandaue City Police Office Station 1.
At the police station, Jano reached out to his pocket and attempted to throw something before entering the station, but the arresting officer caught him and found that it was a small sachet of suspected shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride).
“Ma’y na lang nakabantay ang usa sa atong mga kauban diri ug niangkon pud siya nga tig-gamitay siya sa ginadili na droga (Good thing one of our officers saw him, and the latter admitted that he also used drugs),” PO1 Trogo said.
The suspect would be charged with rape and another case would be filed against him for violating Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Act of 2002. (Miguel Ernest E. Ermac, USJR intern)