Car wash boy gets death for rape

A Manila judge sentenced to death yesterday a car wash boy for raping a mentally deranged woman in Tondo five years ago.

Judge Romulo Lopez of Regional Trial Court Branch 18 found the accused Jesus Vitug guilty beyond reasonable doubt for the crime of rape.

The judge also ordered Vitug to pay the victim some P50,000 .

Court records showed that the victim, who was in her 20s, but with an IQ of nine year old, was sexually assaulted twice in March and April of 1999 inside the comfort room of a rented apartment in Tondo.

The accused apparently threatened to kill the woman if she relayed the incident to anyone.

Vitug almost evaded prosecution for the crime until the family of the girl learned in July 1999 that she was five months pregnant.

When asked by her relatives what happened, victim narrated her ordeal, leading to the arrest and prosecution of the accused.

Lopez brushed aside the accused defense that he and the girl had a relationship because of the victim’s mental status.

The victim had given birth in October 1999 to a boy, but the baby died due to health complications.