Pregnant 13-year-old gang-raped, tortured

A 13-year-old girl was gang-raped and tortured over the weekend in Taguig, having to go through the ordeal for the second time in the hands of the same group of perpetrators, police said yesterday.

The victim, who resides in Bagumbayan, Taguig, is also at least three months pregnant as a result of the first incident last May, said Inspector Vir Pagtama of the Taguig police Station Investigation Division (SID).

One of the five suspects, an "alias Alien," 17, was arrested by authorities last Saturday. The suspect was charged with abduction with rape.

Another 17 year-old boy, the driver of the van used to abduct the victim, helped her escape early Saturday morning, Pagtama added. The van driver dropped the victim off in Pasay City, where she contacted her relatives.

The rest of the group – a certain "Alias Tisoy," the gang’s alleged leader, an "Alias Tenga," and an unidentified boy, who are all in their late teens – remain at large.

Pagtama said the suspects scrawled the words "Ako si Tisoy" on the victim’s left arm using a piece of broken glass. She also had a cigarette burns all over her body and was forced to take drugs.

Pagtama recalled that the victim was still under the influence of the drug when she was brought by her relatives to the Taguig police station at 4:30 a.m. last Saturday.

The victim had been on her way home when the group abducted her in front of the Bicutan Market at 1:30 p.m. last Friday.

She told authorities that she was made to inhale something that knocked her out. She was then brought to an empty house where the suspects took turns raping her.

The girl said the group even threatened to kill her because she was "too talkative."

However, the plan to kill her was never carried out because the suspects fell asleep after a drinking session. The van driver had taken pity on the girl and helped her escape.

Police said the suspects were already arrested last month after the victim told her relatives that they raped her last May. She was forced to reveal her ordeal, Pagtama said, after her relatives noticed her bulging stomach.

He explained the police had to release the suspects because there was not enough evidence against them. Relatives of the girl said the group could have attacked the victim again in retaliation for reporting them earlier.