Man gets 20 to 40 years for raping stepdaughter

The court yesterday convicted a resident of barangay Sawang Calero for raping his 11-year-old stepdaughter in 2002 and sentenced him to 20 to 40 years in jail.

Regional Trial Court judge Olegario Sarmiento Jr. rejected the defense of Eliseo Sabal that it was not him who raped the young complainant because he is a God-fearing person.

Sarmiento ruled that the victim is not in a situation to fabricate the rape charges, which will subject her to the rigors of a public trial, risking dishonor and scandal to her family, except to tell the truth and to vindicate the assault on her person.

Another defense of Sabal is that the victim, now 13, accused him of a serious crime because she stole money from her mother and gave it to her boyfriend and also because Sabal and the child's mother objected to her living together with her boyfriend.

Sabal also argued that the complainant failed to give the specific dates when she was allegedly raped five times in 2002, but Sarmiento cited a Supreme Court ruling in the case People vs. Puedan, which provides that the time and place of the commission of the offense is not essential to prove the crime of rape.

The court did not give any credence to the testimony of the girl's mother, who sided with her common-law husband instead of her daughter.

The girl claimed she was raped by Sabal while her mother was out of the house selling dried fish at the Taboan public market. She was afraid to report the incident because Sabal told her that her mother would not believe her, and he would kill both of them.

Sarmiento said a rape victim's actions are oftentimes overwhelmed by fear rather than by reason. Incestuous rape magnifies this terror, because the perpetrator is a person normally expected to give solace and protection to the victim.

Aside from imprisonment, the court also ordered Sabal to pay the victim P100,000 in damages. - Rene U. Borromeo