A 32-year-old man was arrested by operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation - Central Visayas  Regional Office (NBI-CEVRO) after he was reported to have raped his stepdaughter since the girl was around eight years old.

On the day the suspect was nabbed, it was learned that the victim marked her 14th birthday.

When asked by the operatives on the last incident she was raped, the girl said that the latest was on the night before the arrest.

The incident she said usually happened around midnight or at dawn.

When asked why she did not report immediately the crime committed against her, she said she was threatened repeatedly by the suspect of the "total wreck that could come to their family."

Atty. Wenceslao Galendez Jr., supervising agent of NBI-CEVRO, confirmed that the latest rape incident happened hours before they arrived to arrest the man.

“Without hesitation, she said nga it happened on that very night or just hours before we arrived in their house,” Galendez said.

The suspect kept mum while in detention. He was charged for statutory rape, without any bail recommended which implies the possibility of a life imprisonment if proven guilty. 

“Most of the time keep silent ra gyud siya. We don’t want to force him kay it is his right also not to say anything,” Galendez added. 

The suspect refused an interview. The mother of the victim also kept her silence on the incident.

The girl is taken under the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 7.

NBI-CEVRO Regional Director Renan Augustus Oliva urged the public to report to their office any information on similar kind of cases so the NBI can conduct rescue operations.