Rape victim in grisly video not a Filipina, says RP envoy in UAE

The Philippine Embassy in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday denied that the alleged rape and torture victim shown in a disturbing video circulating on the Internet was a Filipino woman. Consul General Adelio Cruz told GMANews.TV in a phone interview that contrary to rumors, preliminary investigation indicates that there have been no reports of a rape case – or one that involves a Filipino woman – in Abu Dhabi recently. “The rape incident is false," Cruz said, even as he confirmed that police authorities in UAE were still investigating the matter. The caption on the video that has been circulating on the social networking site Facebook said the victim was a Filipino woman working in Abu Dhabi. It said the woman was with another Filipino woman on board a taxi when they were gang-raped by several unidentified men, including the cab driver, at the back of Marina Mall. The caption said one of the two died on the spot due to severe bleeding, while the one shown in the video managed to escape and was rushed to a government hospital. The video shows the woman with severe lacerations on her face, arms and legs and being attended to by medical personnel who were speaking in Arabic. The woman died three days later, according to the caption. “News blackout was implemented that’s why this news didn’t come to Manila… My source told me that the hospital is owned by the King, who ordered the blackout so that their zero-crime image will stay," the caption further read. An overseas Filipino worker based in Abu Dhabi, who requested anonymity but insisted the incident indeed involved a Filipino woman, told GMANews.TV that it happened in February and has been the subject of discussions of the Filipino community there. No such case in hospitals, malls Cruz, however, said the Embassy has asked hospital and mall officials, as well as Abu Dhabi’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), but all have denied receiving reports with circumstances similar to what the video’s accompanying information describes. “It could not have happened in a government hospital because it would automatically be a police case. It should have also been forwarded to the CID because that could be a heinous crime," he added. Cruz said government hospitals in UAE are “very strict" in enforcing the ban on cameras and cellular phones inside the operating and emergency rooms. He also said that English is the medium of communication. Based on interpreters’ comments as requested by the Embassy, Cruz explained the medical personnel were speaking in Arabic and asking the woman, “Who did this to you? Is it your boyfriend? Do you have a child with your boyfriend?" The woman replied only with moans in apparent anguish. “There is no possible way to identify if the woman is Filipina. (But) we are still requesting the CID to further investigate and inform us of any results," Cruz said. The UAE chapter of the migrants’ rights group Migrante also said they have tried to get in touch with an OFW who was supposed to have first broken the news on the alleged rape, along with other cases of alleged rape and abduction of Filipino women. The OFW, however, has yet to reply to the group’s request for further information. “The report first has to be verified, and if it turns out to be true, the Philippine Embassy should immediately act on it," the group stated. Reactions from Pinoy "netizens" The video has generated a deluge of reactions from Filipino Internet users on Facebook, condemning the incident and demanding that government authorities and the media investigate the matter. Before the video came out, there was an earlier report citing similar circumstances of two Filipino women being gang-raped, but was denied by both Cruz and Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Grace Princesa in a report on the Web site of the UAE-based The National. The Embassy appealed to Filipinos Internet users to refrain from sending out the video since it is causing unnecessary panic. “While we understand their concern about the safety of their fellow Filipinos, it is equally damaging and distressing to send out unverified videos like this," Cruz said. - KBK, GMANews.TV