The quick Response Team on Children’s Concerns (QRTCC) here rescued another victim of child abuse after the biological father of a six-year old boy mauled his son using an electric wire.
The kid showed bruises and wounds all over when the QRTCC team rescued the child around 4 P.M. Wednesday, after a concerned citizen informed them through the Kean Gabrielle hotline.
The QRTCC together with the police arrested Rodriguesse Bicol, the father of the child who was present during the rescue operation launched by the group.
Social Worker Teresita Obang said that the child was wearing a long sleeved shirt and a pajama when they arrived to cover the bruises caused by the mauling of the father.
The kid’s mother Desa, refused to file charges against her husband but she admitted that it was not the first time that Rodriguesse mauled their only child.
Based on the testimony of the mother, her husband mauled their child when he was under the influence of alcohol. She added she saw no need to report it since Rodriguesse but claimed he had no any idea what he did to the child.
“At first the mother was convinced to file charges against her husband but when we arrived at the police station she changed her mind, she said that she does not have any idea how will they survived without her husband,” Obang said.
During the information gathering of the QRTCC team, they found out that the kid was no longer attending his classes and was left alone in their house whenever his parents go out to work.
“According to the neighbors they always left the kid alone, no one was taking care of him,” Obang said.
Based on the statement of the six-year old, he was mauled by his father because he took a shower in the rain.
“He beat me using an electric wire because I took a shower in the rain,” said the boy.
According to Lorna Mandin, head of the Integrated Gender and Development Division that since the Kean Gabriel Hotline was launched last October, they have received a total of 134 calls from concerned citizens to report cases of child abuse.
46% of the 134 reports were physical abuse related cases while 52% of the victims were male, 71% of the cases were through the reports of concerned citizens.
“The data shows that there are at least two children a day who experiences abused. It also shows that the community is getting more involved by reporting such cases to our Kean Gabriel hotline,” Mandin said.
Meanwhile charges of physical injury in relation to RA 7610 were filed against Rodriguesse while authorities were still to also file charges against Desa who did not report the incident to the authorities.
The Kean Gabriel hotline was launched after the 3 year old Kean Gabriel was mauled to death by his stepfather.
