Raped deaf-mute now 7 mo. pregnant

From: Sun Star, Philippines - Oct 5, 2004

By Claudine C. Dumalag

THE 24-year-old deaf-mute rape victim from Bago City is now seven months pregnant, Senior Police Officer 3 Isabelita Dioso, head of the Bago police Women and Children's Concerns Desk said.

The victim, whose name is being withheld by the police, was molested in February this year.

Currently, Dioso said, the victim is undergoing sign language lessons at the Department of Social Welfare and Development office in Bago to facilitate easier communication during court proceedings.

Case investigators named the 17-year-old suspect as "Geobert," a laborer of Murcia town, who is believed to be still in hiding outside Negros Occidental.

Dioso said they received information that the suspect's parents helped in his escape.

The Bago police is awaiting the warrant of arrest against Geobert who reportedly raped the victim in a riverbank in Hacienda Sandungao, Barangay Bacong, Bago.

The victim is an operator of a raft connecting Bago and Murcia through the Sandungao River.

Investigators said the suspect molested the victim at knifepoint. The rape happened more than once.

The victim said the suspect threatened to kill her or members of her family several times.

Police added the victim, accompanied by her mother, reported the rape to the police after the suspect's family refused to give her financial support.

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