Typhoon victim hangs self at home
LOSING her one-year-old child to a lingering illness and her home to supertyphoon Yolanda was too much for 18-year-old Akiera Mae Patalinghug to bear.
She was found by her 61-year-old aunt Carmelita Tampus hanging from a beam of a house in Sacred Heart Village, Barangay Gun-ob, Lapu-lapu City at 3 p.m. yesterday.
Tampus told police that her niece and live-in partner were from Ormoc City and moved to Lapu-Lapu City after their house was destroyed by the typhoon.
Patalinghug’s child was taken ill and died before Yolanda hit Ormoc City.
Tampus arrived at home from a trip to a mall at past 1:30 p.m. last Wednesday and went about her chores, thinking that Patalinghug had gone out.
She said her seven-year-old granddaughter came running and informed her that she saw Patalinghug hanging with a nylon rope tied around her neck in the adjacent house.
On seeing the victim, Tampus shouted for help, cut the rope and brought her to the hospital where she was declared dead on arrival.
Tampus told police that Patalinghug and her live-in partner argued last Tuesday.
The man went to Mandaue City and hasn’t returned since then.
Tampus also told police that she overheard Patalinghug talking to her live-in partner on her cell phone telling him that she would kill herself if he doesn’t come home.
Police found no evidence of foul play but Patalinghug’s remains will still undergo autopsy to determine the cause of death. Correspondent Norman V. Mendoza
If you or someone you know is in need of assistance, please reach out to the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH). Their crisis hotlines are available at 1553 (Luzon-wide landline toll-free), 0917-899-USAP (8727), 0966-351-4518, and 0908-639-2672. For more information, visit their website: (https://doh.gov.ph/NCMH-Crisis-Hotline)
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