WHEN I read that Hawaii inmate Saofaiga Loa had been shot, although not fatally, while trying to escape from Newton County Correction Center in Texas on Monday, I remembered the Magic Island rape victim. Five years ago, she and her friend walked into the Star-Bulletin newsroom with a letter to the editor. It described the hideous crimes committed against them a year before, and their reaction to the jury's verdict against Loa. Flashback for
Magic Island rape victimDigging through some drawers, I found the Nov. 11, 1993, column that I had written about her, extensively quoting from her letter. The clipping was yellowed and dog-eared, but in part, this is what she said:
"I nearly lost my life on July 3, 1992. I believed that I was going to die after three males repeatedly raped me at knifepoint. I was close to death when the assailants decided to finish me off by stabbing me in the back.
"I will never forget this incident, especially when I saw my friend get stabbed in the chest. I still have nightmares of the anguished look on my friend's face as he sat there helplessly fearing for his life. It will haunt me forever. It was the look of death.
"I was also afraid for my life when I was repeatedly raped. Thoughts of death came to my mind every time the assailant raped me.
"I hated having his penis in my vagina or in my mouth. I felt so disgusted. I will never forgive him for the hell he put me though.
"Those males robbed me of my dignity and did not know how much they were hurting me physically and mentally. They treated my body as if I were some kind of dead animal and they were feeding off my flesh.
"Loa had no remorse for his actions. What person could smile and doodle for the camera while the victim that he attempted to murder was testifying against him?
"I felt like I was the assailant because of the way I was treated on the stand. I understand that the defense attorney was just trying to do his job, but he should have had some sympathy. I did not commit the crime; I am the victim. I have suffered enough.
"My friend and I are very upset about the attempted manslaughter verdict. To those jurors in Loa's trial: If you could not reach an agreement on the charge of attempted murder in the first degree, why didn't you inform the judge that you were unable to arrive at a decision rather than convict on the lesser charge of attempted manslaughter?
"How can the defense say that Loa did not intend to kill me? If the blade of the knife had gone in any deeper, I would have been dead. Then Loa wouldn't have been charged with attempted murder. He would have been charged with murder! I would rather have seen a mistrial than see Loa convicted of attempted manslaughter.
"Whenever I go out now, I am afraid. I find it hard to trust anyone. Often, I wonder if I am ever coming back home alive. I feel as though I must constantly look over my shoulder for fear that someone is going to attack me.
"The streets of Honolulu, which once were friendly, now seem deadly. It will be a long time, if ever, before I can trust a stranger."
LIKE I said, when I heard that Hawaii inmate Saofaiga Loa had been shot once and recaptured while trying to escape from a Texas prison, I thought of the Magic Island rape victim. How was she doing after all these years? How horrible it must have been for her to read, once again, Loa's name in the news. How angry she must be at the Texas guards for being such restrained, lousy marksmen.
Diane Yukihiro Chang's column runs Monday and Friday.
She can be reached by phone at 525-8607, via e-mail at
DianeChang@aol.com, or by fax at 523-7863.