This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2003-02-17 |
QUISUMBING, J. |
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| The presence of people nearby is no guarantee that rape will not be committed, for lust is no respecter of time and place.[43] Rape has been committed in places where people congregate, like parks or school premises and even in a house where there are other occupants.[44] There is no rule or norm that a woman can only be raped in seclusion.[45] It has been committed in a room adjacent to where other members of the family stay or in a room, which the victim shared with others.[46] We have more than once observed that rape could take place in the same room where other members of the family were sleeping.[47] In the instant cases, both rapes complained of were committed in the middle of the night. It is of judicial notice that it is at this time when children are in deep slumber and could not be easily awakened.[48] The fact that Melanie's siblings were not awakened at the times she was ravished is not improbable. Hence, appellants' thesis that it was impossible for them to have committed the rape in the presence of private complainant's siblings who were sleeping next to her deserves scant consideration. | |||||