Boy’s choking ‘demo’ puts mom’s ‘suicide’ in doubt

The death of a teacher found hanging two weeks ago is up for reinvestigation by the Quezon City police after her 2-year-old son “demonstrated” to his maternal grandmother how his father allegedly strangled the victim.

Authorities cited the child’s supposed account, as well as an autopsy report indicating foul play, as they started looking for Fortunato de Guzman, 26, a criminology student who had reportedly disappeared from the neighborhood after his wife’s burial.

De Guzman faces questioning for the death of his wife Delaila, 23, a teacher at the University of Manila, according to PO3 Hermogenes Capili.

Capili noted that Delaila’s death was reported to the police only on Thursday by the victim’s mother, Shirley Mito.

According to Mito, Delaila was found hanging inside the family residence on Kilusan Street, Barangay Old Balara, in the afternoon of May 11. “But barangay officials only learned about it during the wake,” the officer said.

Mito finally went to the police after the couple’s eldest child supposedly showed her how De Guzman strangled Delaila, he said.

The boy, who Mito claimed was too “scared” to see his father at the wake, also recalled that his parents had a fight: “Mommy away Daddy.”

Delaila did not make it alive to the hospital. An autopsy sought by Mito later showed that the victim had scratches in the arms and pressure marks on her neck, Capili added.

The couple had been married for two years and had two sons, with the youngest just three months old. Neighbors said they often heard the couple quarrelling over their financial problems and De Guzman’s alleged drug use.