Girl rises from grave; rape ordeal recounted

COTABATO CITY—A 10-year-old girl literally rose from the grave to tell a story of being raped, buried and left for dead by a 21-year-old cousin in a remote village of Magpet town in North Cotabato, police said on Thursday.

Quoting the girl’s father, Insp. Roberto Ocumen, Magpet police chief, said she was approached by her cousin outside their home on Sunday morning. A few minutes into their talk, the cousin, a farmer, suddenly hit the girl with a hard object, dragged her into a grassy area and sexually abused her, Ocumen said.

The girl lives in a neighborhood where houses are far from one another.

Ocumen said the rapist buried her in a shallow grave and covered it with banana leaves. But the girl regained consciousness and crawled up the pit, he said. The officer did not say how long the girl had stayed buried.

Neighbors saw the girl limping on the road and helped her reach her house. She told her parents about the ordeal, Ocumen said.

The cousin was arrested on Monday noon and charged. Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao