Silent scream: Woman says fellow deaf-mute raped her

A 32-year-old deaf-mute man was arrested on complaints that he raped a friend, who is also deaf-mute, after they got drunk at his Marikina City home, police said on Wednesday.

The complainant, a 23-year-old Filipino-Japanese woman living in Quezon City, told investigators in writing how she was allegedly assaulted and raped early Monday morning by Jose Alfonzo, also known as Joseph.

Marikina police spokesperson Superintendent Emmanuel Tabuena said the alleged victim, Alfonzo, and their other deaf-mute friends attended a birthday party in Quezon City on Sunday, and then went to Alfonzo’s house on Upper Balite Street in Barangay Fortune, Marikina, to spend the night there and have a few more drinks.

When they all got drunk, the woman said, the suspect dragged her to his room and raped her. Alfonzo allegedly threatened to kill her if she would go to the police.

But the complainant revealed her ordeal through a text message to her sister, who later accompanied her to the police station that same day.

Alfonzo was arrested at his residence on Monday afternoon and remained in police custody as of Wednesday.

Tabuena said a medico legal examination conducted on the victim appeared to support the charge as she was found to have sustained bruises and bite marks on her body.

“There were also witnesses, also deaf and mute, who could testify in court that the victim was forced into the suspect’s room,” the officer added. With Christine Exevea