More credible

This is perhaps one of the most unique cases on record as it involves a husband and wife found guilty of rape. As the court here said, sexual relations outside the marriage bond are not a pixyish play for couples as neither one is allowed to bring in a third person just to satisfy the insatiable lust of the other.

The couple here is Dencio and Nimfa living at a Southern Luzon town in a six meters by eight meters house with their two children. Nimfa is a reputed healer in their province who has supposedly healed a lot of people. She performs her healing session in one room of their house.

Among those who got to know of Nimfa’s healing prowess was Lita whose daughter, Nora is an epileptic. Worried about the worsening condition of her daughter and relying on the advice of her sister-in-law, Lita brought Nora to the residence of Nimfa in the nearby town, for healing sessions.

Three days later Lita even invited Nimfa to the 14th birthday celebration of Nora in their residence. After the celebration, Nimfa persuaded Lita to allow Nora to stay in the house of her mother-in-law in their town since she only conducts healing sessions in the evening.

After about a week stay in the mother-in-law’s house, Nimfa asked Nora who was then cleaning the house, to go to her house. She told Nora to lie down on the floor of the room where the healing sessions were conducted. Nora acceded, thinking that she would be treated.

At this juncture, Nimfa called her husband Dencio and told him “o maghubo ka na” Frightened, Nora struggled and exerted efforts to resist the invasion on her womanhood, but to no avail because Nimfa pinned down her hands on the floor and covered her mouth. Dencio thus succeeded in satisfying his lust and invading the young Nora’s womanhood. Nimfa even laughed and laughed while watching her husband consummate the lecherous act in the treatment room. Then Nimfa warned Nora not to divulge the incident to anybody.

After the ordeal, Nora refused to be treated anymore. She was fetched by her aunt and was continuously crying inside the passenger jeepney. The next day, she disclosed to her mother Lita what was done to her. So after medical examination which confirms that there was sexual penetration done on her, Dencio and Nimfa were charged with the crime of rape.

Nimfa denied the accusation. She testified that it was against human nature to commit rape in broad daylight and with her children in the house. She claimed that Lita and Nora were just trying to discredit her for curing the sick and just want to escape from the obligation of paying her services. Dencio on the other hand testified that on the day of the rape, he was at the elementary school, a walking distance from their house, meeting with the barangay captain and another neighbor looking at the voter’s list for the coming election. Then he went to a repair shop where he worked as a mechanic. Both of these persons corroborated his story.

But after trial, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) nevertheless found Dencio and Nimfa guilty of rape .The RTC found that conspiracy existed between the two of them as it relied more on the straightforward testimony of Nora. Was the RTC correct?

Yes. Nora’s testimony appears straightforward. She positively identified her ravishers and narrated what transpired with simplicity and veracity. Well settled is the doctrine that testimonies of child-victims are given full weight and credit. When a woman or a girl-child says that she has been raped, she says, in effect, all that is necessary to prove that rape was really committed.

Both Dencio and Nimfa are guilty of rape because there is conspiracy between them. Conspiracy exists when two or more persons come to an agreement concerning the commission of an offense and decide to commit it. The facts and circumstances of this case indicate the existence of conspiracy exists: from the time Nimfa called Dencio to remove his pants and pinned down Nora’s hands on the floor up to the time she was laughing and laughing while her husband is perpetrating the act.

So Dencio and Nimfa should suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua and to pay Nora, P50,000 as indemnity and P50,000 as moral damages (People vs. Saban, G.R. 110559, November 24,  1999. 319 SCRA 36).

*      *      *

E-mail: [email protected].