‘Refer my rape case to DOJ’

A Quezon City prosecutor, earlier charged with rape and acts of lasciviousness, asked the chief of the QC Prosecutor’s Office to refer the cases filed against him to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for investigation, saying this would ensure a fair trial.

Prosecutor Antonio Lim Jr. requested Chief Prosecutor Claro Arellano to inhibit the office from conducting the preliminary investigation and referral of the rape case to an independent body.

"Since I belong to the office, there will be adverse comments that my people will surely protect me, although this is not true at all in our case," Lim said in a letter to Arellano.

Lim said his request is aimed at protecting the good name of the office from malicious insinuations of their detractors.

"I seek fair and impartial justice more than anybody else, not only because of the gravity of the offense that we are being charged, but because I can prove my innocence. I do not want the vindication of my name, honor and integrity to be tainted with doubt," he said.

Lim was charged last week with rape by his maid, who claimed she was sexually abused by her employer on various occasions, but it was reported only to the police when his wife caught him in the maid’s room. – Pia Lee-Brago