A video of a three-year-old girl confined in a hospital after her father’s live-in partner physically abused her made the rounds online and has sparked uproar from netizens.
The nine-minute video on Facebook shows a young girl with a badly beaten face and heavily swollen eyes trying to narrate the abuse she had experienced.
The aunt of the child who took the video asked the girl what happened to her and who did it, to which the young girl replied, “Berna”, and gesturing towards the women sitting beside her hospital bed.
The young girl was referring to her father’s live-in partner who, according to the video, slapped and hit her in her father’s house.
The young girl keeps on saying in the video that she was beaten (nabugbog) while pointing to Berna.
When the person taking the video focused the camera on Berna and asked her why she did it, the latter remained mum and just stared blankly at the camera.
Aside from the bruises on her face, the child also suffered from bone fracture, hematoma, and wounds after getting mauled, according to local reports.
Days after the video went viral, netizens were able to uncover woman identity in the video who was later revealed to be Berna Espina.
In an interview with News 5, Berna said that she did not batter the child. However, she did admit that she hit the child once when the latter got rowdy.
On the other hand, the child’s mother, Marimar Quilap-Quilap, and aunt, Michaela Lopez, appeared on Raffy Tulfo’s radio show “Wanted sa Radyo” and narrated their side of the story.
Quilap-Quilap said that her former husband just took their child without her consent that is why the child is currently living with him.
Tulfo was enraged further when he found out that the father did not do anything to save his child from the abuse she was suffering from.
Quilap-Quilap said that she will file cases against Berna and her former husband so that they can also get the custody of the child.
Tulfo made sure that Berna and the child’s father will face criminal charges for physically abusing the child. He said that he will give financial assistance to the family for the child’s medical expenses.
Other news sources said the authorities from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) have already met with Berna to discuss the incident.
If proven guilty, Berna and the child’s father could face six to 12 years of imprisonment according to Republic Act No. 7610 or the Special Protection of Children against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.
