MANILA, Philippines—Spending more than six months in jail with no visitor allegedly drove a 23-year-old inmate of the Manila City Jail to hang himself in the toilet on Wednesday night.
Charged with illegal possession of bladed weapon, Robert Lyneil Refol, a member of the Sputnik gang, of Pureza Street, Sta. Mesa, was found hanging from the ceiling of the toilet at Dormitory 11 in the jail compound in Sta. Cruz.
His fellow inmates and jail officials tried to save Refol by bringing him to the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center but the effort proved futile as he was declared dead on arrival.
PO3 Alonzo Layugan of the Manila Police District homicide section said that Refol’s suicide was discovered at around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday by fellow detainee Chard Verelao.
Layugan said Verelao forced the toilet door open as Refol locked himself inside and did not respond to knocks on the door.
The inmate then found Refol hanging from the ceiling with a green nylon cord looped around the neck. He immediately sought the help of other detainees and jail guards to bring down Refol and take him to the nearest hospital. He later found a suicide note written on a piece of yellow paper.
The case investigator told the Inquirer that Refol lamented in the note the fact that he had had no visitor since he was detained in August last year.
“His fellow detainees at Dormitory 11 said that they have noticed that he has had no visit from anyone, not even members of his family,” Layugan said.
Apart from his complaint, Refol also left instructions that, in the event anyone came for his body, he be buried in Cavite.
“I do not know why he was still detained but the crime he was charged with only comes with a light penalty,” Layugan said, pointing out that his alleged crime carried a penalty of imprisonment from a month to a maximum of not more than a year. He added that the bail was also a small amount.