Death by interrogation

“Reasonable force” and “judicious use of force” were terms used in reference to police and other law enforcement authorities in dealing with criminal elements and protestors crossing the picket line and these terms come to mind in the shoplifting case that resulted in the death of one Mario Alfie Ducayag.

The family plans to file charges against those responsible for his death and are said to be including the management of Gaisano Metro Colon for failing to avert his death apparently at the hands of security officers who don’t think much about, nor even have a concept of what “reasonable force is.”

Closed circuit TV camera operator Jeffrey Aquino, who was supposed to be facing charges filed by the police for Ducayag’s death, gave a bird’s eye view of what goes on between security officers and shoplifting suspects and it isn’t pretty.

He says security officers may be compelled to rough-house or beat up shoplifting suspects because of their resistance to arrest which usually turns violent and ugly. And admittedly there are criminal elements who would even kill those out to arrest them if only to get away with their stolen loot.

The mall’s lawyer said video footage showed that Ducayag slipped an object inside a plastic bag while heading to the elevator. But he also hastened to add that it doesn’t justify how security officers, particularly Mauricio Doblados, handled Ducayag which was patently illegal and criminal.

Store policy dictated that shoplifting suspects like Ducayag should have been turned over to the nearest police precinct 30 minutes after he was apprehended but the mall’s security officers like Doblados appeared unsatisfied and felt he should have admitted to stealing right there and then.

For Doblados that meant punching Ducayag three times on the chest with full force and hitting him with an electric cord even if he was lying unconscious on the floor.

A seeming coverup attempt that would make Aquino the fall guy was backed with an autopsy finding by the police that contradicted another autopsy done by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) that showed Ducayag died of traumatic injuries, a finding which Ducayag’s family is using as basis to file criminal charges against the perpetrators.

Even if it was too late to prevent Ducayag’s death, the store’s decision to install a security camera inside the interrogation room should deter security officers like Doblados from manhandling shoplifting suspects.

It’s up to Ducayag’s family if they would file charges against the management for its failure to secure his safety even if he may be guilty of shoplifting. We hope the management does right by them and require their security officers to be more humane in the truest sense of the word in dealing with shoplifting suspects.

We also question why the police was so eager to pin down Aquino at the expense of letting the truly guilty parties get away with bloody murder. Connivance or gross incompetence? Anyone following this case can draw their own conclusion.

At any rate, we hope that they and the NBI get to the bottom of the case and bring the murderers of Ducayag to justice.