Cotabato province map. INQUIRER FILES
KIDAPAWAN CITY, Cotabato, Philippines — The Department of Education Cotabato Division would send school psychologists to the village of New Pandan of Matalam town in the province to conduct psychosocial intervention sessions on elementary school learners who were traumatized by the killing and suspected rape of a second-grade pupil on the first day of classes last week.
Cotabato Schools Division Superintendent Romelito Flores ordered psychosocial debriefing sessions to be conducted among pupils who might be traumatized by the incident in the New Pandan school, with the team of psychologists expected to be in the school this Monday.
He condemned the incident and asked school administrators within his division to always ensure that their learners remained safe, particularly when inside their respective school premises.
“I also appeal to parents not to entrust their children to anybody and always prioritize their safety. As much as possible, we should always monitor and fetch our children personally to ensure that they return home safe,” Flores said on Friday.
A relative
Authorities learned that the suspect claimed to be a relative of the victim and got the trust of the father who allowed him to accompany his daughter to school.
Lt. Col. Ariel Melocotones, the town’s police chief, said the victim was on her way to New Pandan Elementary School for the first day of classes on Aug. 29 in the company of the 21-year-old male suspect. But the girl never made it to school and was marked as absent by her teachers, the school principal told the police.
The family of the victim reported the girl was missing late in the afternoon, prompting village officials and neighbors to conduct a search in the village. They found her body in a grassy area, with her undergarment missing, prompting the police to suspect she was molested.
Melocotones said the girl was possibly hit by a hard object as she sustained wounds on her head that could have caused her death.
Suspect arrested
The suspect was arrested in his shanty in the town but was rushed to the hospital for allegedly attempting to commit suicide, the police reported.
The suspect was later transferred from the hospital to the municipal police’s custodial facility where he was detained pending his commitment to the Cotabato Provincial District Jail in Barangay Amas, Kidapawan City, Melocotones said.
The victim’s family had already filed a case of rape with homicide against the suspect before the Regional Trial Court in Kabacan, Cotabato.