Two farmers charged with raping daughters

Two farmers from Minglanilla town were formally charged before the Regional Trial Court yesterday for allegedly raping their own daughters on separate occasions.

One of the accused raped his daughter by pretending that he wants to find out if the girl is still a virgin.

The victim, who is now 24 years old and a resident of barangay Tubod, Minglanilla, accused her father of raping her when she was still 19 in 2001. But the molestation started when she was just 13 when her father would allegedly touch her breasts and private parts.

When her father learned that she already had a boyfriend when she was 19 he scolded her and ordered her to stop going to school.

Sometime in 2001, the victim recalled that while she was at the terrace of their house, her father played their karaoke and television so loud. Then he ordered her to go with him inside their master's bedroom.

The victim said her father asked her whether she is still a virgin because she already had a boyfriend. When the victim replied that she was still a virgin, her father told her that he wants to prove it by inspecting her private parts.

She said her father successfully raped her that time and later scolded and accused her of not being a virgin anymore. She narrated the incident to her mother only last October 23.

In the other rape case, a 21-year-old resident of barangay Guindarohan, Minglanilla town, and the eldest of four siblings, also accused her father of raping her sometime in March 1999 while she was alone in their house.

She was sleeping inside the house when her parents and three other members of the family went to their farm, but at 3 p.m. her father returned and raped her.

Her father threatened to kill her and other members of the family once she tells them of the incident. She got pregnant with his baby.

Cebu provincial prosecutor Pepita Petralba has recommended no bail for the accused who is facing the possible maximum penalty of death if convicted.