Groups seek justice for girl raped, slain in Iloilo

ILOILO CITY—Women’s groups and militant organizations are calling for justice for a 15-year-old girl who was found dead and believed to have been raped in a motel here.

The women’s group Gabriela led on June 28 an indignation rally at  Bonifacio Shrine in Barangay Bonifacio Tanza, decrying the killing of the girl, who was found on June 14 inside a room at  Moonlight Lodge in Arevalo District.

A telephone wire was tied around her neck. Her body bore bruises and there were signs she was raped.

A room boy discovered her body after he became suspicious when he saw a broken window glass panel and noticed that the air-conditioning unit in the room was turned off.

Police  filed a rape with homicide complaint on Tuesday against a man, described to be in his 20s, who checked in at the motel with the victim.

Senior Supt. Zacharias Canieso, officer in charge of the Iloilo City police, said the suspect was identified based on the description of a taxi driver who took the girl and the man to the motel.

Roxanne Arsaga, Gabriela-Iloilo City chair, defended the victim from insinuations that she habitually went out with men or was even a prostituted woman.

“Even if she was so, this doesn’t justify what was done to her,” Arsaga told the Inquirer.

“We are appealing to the public to stop the victim-blaming for it only justifies the crime. It diverts from the root cause of violence against women and will deny them justice,” Arsaga said. Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas