A 17-year-old girl who claims that she was used as sex slave by her father from the age of only seven years old has been freed.
The unidentified teenager from Negros Oriental reportedly managed to smuggle a letter to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) describing her plight.
Agents from the commission along with police swooped on her home on Friday (March 24). Officers say the suspect attempted to reach for a .38 calibre revolver before he was subdued by officers and taken into custody.
Dr Jesus Cañete, CHR’s regional director, said the rescue operation was conducted after the girl sent them a letter detailing how her father had used her as a sex slave for almost a decade.
“According to her, the father started raping her in 2007. So that was ten years ago. She is 17 now, so she could only have been seven years old or eight years old.”
According to the girl, he added, the father would rape her inside their home or at a nearby plantation.
It is not known if the other members of the family — who have not been identified to protect the anonymity of the victim — knew of the crime.
Dr Cañete added: “We asked if her family knew, but she said she stayed silent because her father threatened to kill all of them.”
The suspect has denied his daughter’s allegations. Charges of multiple counts of rape and illegal possession of a firearm are now being prepared against him by police.