Woman hammered, ironed, burned

A day after he beat up his pregnant ex-live-in partner with a hammer and still-warm flat iron, doused her in gasoline and then set her on fire, a 38-year-old mechanic was picked up by the Quezon City police on Tuesday in Baliwag, Bulacan, where he had gone into hiding.

Alexis Reyes admitted to reporters at Camp Karingal that he tried to kill his former girlfriend, 19-year-old Monaliza Serpa Juan, who is seven months pregnant, when she refused to take him back.

Operatives of the Quezon City Police District’s Batasan station caught up with Reyes in Baliwag town on Tuesday afternoon.

He remains detained at the Batasan police station pending the filing of frustrated murder and arson charges against him in the City Prosecutor’s Office.

Juan, on the other hand, is still confined at East Avenue Medical Center where she remains under observation due to her injuries.

Batasan police station commander Supt. Ramon Pranada said the incident happened at 3 p.m. on Monday in Juan’s house at Purok 6 in Barangay (village) Commonwealth, Quezon City.

According to him, Reyes visited his ex-girlfriend in an attempt to convince her to take him back. The couple, however, figured in a heated argument during which Reyes got hold of a hammer, which he hit the victim with.

He then struck her repeatedly with a still-warm flat iron, doused her with gasoline and then set her on fire before fleeing.

The unconscious victim was discovered by housemates who immediately took her to the hospital.