Recruiter jailed for detaining, mauling woman

AN overseas job recruiter was sentenced yesterday by the court  to six to 13 years in jail for detaining and mauling a woman inside his office for six hours.

Regional Trial Court Judge Soliver Peras of Branch 10 said  Salvador Rosal was guilty beyond reasonable doubt of   the charge of slight illegal detention.

Rosal’s lawyer Salvador Solima said he will contest  the decision.

Buena Tariman  complained that the recruiter detained her in his office along  F. Ramos Street in Cebu City  on July 3, 2010.

Rosal  was  the manager of Almustagbal International.

Tariman said Rosal refused to release the documents she asked for on behalf of her friend, who chose to drop her application for a job in Saudi Arabia.

She also sought a refund of her friend’s P1,500 payment to Rosal.

Tariman’s friend called the police for help after  not hearing from her after several hours.

When Tariman later left the office she  had bruises on her face.

In his defense, Rosal said the woman went to his office at 3:35 p.m. and insisted on talking to his wife.

Rosal said Tariman wanted her friend’s documents released but he refused because the papers didn’t belong to her.

He said he asked Tariman to let  her friend get the  documents personally from his office.

He said he, his wife, and son went out for lunch and returned two hours later, only to see Tariman still in the office.

Rosal said he asked the woman to leave but she refused. He said it was then that policemen came and arrested him. Rosal alleged that the woman  wanted to extort money from him.

The judge didn’t give weight to the recruiter’s alibi.

“The accused could have immediately called up the police for assistance after the complainant arrived at his office,” said the judge.

He said it took Rosal five minutes to open the door after the police arrived and that there was no legal basis to hold the woman there.  Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol