Stepfather kills 2 kids, wounds another in Davao Oriental

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

DAVAO CITY — Two children were killed and another was critically wounded on Wednesday after they were stabbed by their stepfather inside their home in Caraga town, Davao Oriental, police said.

Major Marcille Manzano, Caraga police station chief, said the incident happened past 12 a.m. at Barangay San Jose.

Manzano identified the victims as Ashley, 10, who died at the scene; her 5-year-old brother Hilbert, who died hours later while being treated at a local hospital; and Angelbert, 7, who is undergoing treatment.

The suspect, Mario Indawa, 42, is in hospital arrest after trying to kill himself.

A call at 12:10 a.m. from a neighbor led police to the house of the Portillo children, where they found the wounded kids tied, and the suspect, who had a self-inflicted stab wound on his abdomen.

“The incident has left the community in shock,” Manzano said, adding authorities have requested the public to come forward with information that may help in the investigation.

Police believe jealousy may have driven the suspect to commit the crime.

Before the incident, Indawa had become despondent after his live-in partner went to work in the provincial capital Mati City and could no longer be reached by phone, the victims’ grandmother said.

“He treated the children well. I saw no problem with Dondon and the children until this happened,” the grandmother told local media in the vernacular, referring to the suspect’s nickname.

She said the suspect even invited her to a drinking session hours before the crime, but she refused as she had to work the next morning.

“Had I accepted, he could also have attacked me,” she said. “If we only knew or saw indications he would do this, we would not have left the children alone with him.”

Manzano said Indawa had reported to the barangay office on Monday that the children’s mother had not returned for four days since she left for work and that the kids had become hungry.

The suspect likewise reported the same to the women and children’s desk of Caraga police station, Manzano said.

Charges of double murder and frustrated murder were filed against Indawa, police said.

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