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ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) urged residents staying in Zamboanga evacuation centers to ensure the safety of their children, after a young girl was allegedly raped by her uncle inside the Joaquin Enriquez Memorial Sports Complex Thursday evening, September 19.
“It came to my attention that a 6-year-old girl was raped on Thursday by a distant relative of the father,” DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman said.
The incident happened nighttime, while both parents left the child in the care of the man. According to Soliman, the mother arrived after the incident.
“The victim is now under the custody of the DSWD for psycho-social therapy intervention. The perpetrator is now in jail,” Soliman added.
The parents, however, said their daughter is only 5 years old. The mother said she personally saw the suspect raping her daughter.
Soliman said security is now being heightened in the evacuation center to help protect the women and children.
“To prevent similar incidents from happening, the DSWD will strengthen protection services for women and children at evacuation centers with the help of the local city police,” Soliman said.
“Together with the city government of Zamboanga, we will increase lighting facilities in the evacuation centers to easily see movements of people around. Likewise, we will expand the day care centers so that parents can leave their children freely under the care of our social workers,” added Soliman.
Soliman said the heads of cluster tents were also ordered to intensify public address announcement to raise the awareness of the evacuees against sexual harassment. -Rappler.com
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