Escape from hell

After five years of being sexually abused, chained, whipped, and fed like dog, a 19-year-old girl’s agony finally ended when she escaped from the hell that was her own family the other night, police reported yesterday.

The victim, who was already showing signs of mental disorder apparently brought about by the abuses she suffered at the hands of her stepfather and other members of the family, is now in the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

SPO4 Marilou Rheberg, Caloocan City police Station 3 Children’s and Women’s Desk officer, said the victim was able to escape from her stepfather’s house on Capitol Amparo street, Camarin, Caloocan City at around 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Rheberg said that based on the victim’s testimony, the stepfather, Ernesto Palacios, allegedly started abusing her in 1998 when she was barely 13.

Police said the victim had ligature marks on the neck, waist and ankles. The suspect would often rouse her from her sleep in the wee hours of the morning to sexually satisfy himself inside her room. She also said the slightest mistake would prompt her tormentor to force her to eat soap.

Police said the abuses, which was known to the victim’s mother, Lita Tagiou, were ignored. The mother allegedly kept mum about her daughter’s suffering, which had gone on for five long years.

A month ago, for some unknown reason, Palacios allegedly fled to an unnamed province and has not returned.

Police said with the unexplained disappearance of their breadwinner, the family turned their ire on the girl and chained her like a dog.

Luckily, the victim, who, Rheberg said exhibited some lucid intervals, was able to escape from their house when the steel chain somehow became loose. The victim, aided by concerned citizens, then sought help from the authorities and revealed her ordeal.

Police are now tracking down the victim’s stepfather and summoned her mother to appear at the police station to explain her side regarding the allegations.