UST vows justice for killed freshman law student

The University of Santo Tomas campus in Manila.  FILE PHOTO

The University of Sto. Tomas (UST) has vowed to “leave no stone unturned” to ensure that the perpetrators in the killing of freshman law student Horacio Tomas Castillo III would be “meted the appropriate sanctions and brought to justice.”

In a statement on Monday, the UST said investigation on the incident is on-going “to ferret out the truth, determine liability and institute the necessary legal actions.”

UST said it condemns in “no uncertain terms hazing in any form or manner” and sympathized with the family of Castillo.

“No words can describe our sadness for this unfortunate incident,” it said.

“We express our profound sympathy and offer our prayers to his family for their pain and anguish — a pain that we share seeing that the life of our very own student, with all of its aspirations and potentials, taken away because of a senseless act,” it added.

MPD Spokesperson Supt. Edwin Magarejo confirmed that Castillo was killed due to hazing.  He noted that the victim’s arms were severely smacked with a hard object and bore burns.

Meanwhile, the victim’s mother, Carmina, who waited at the funeral parlor where his son underwent an autopsy by the medico-legal of the MPD, said his son died due to cardiac arrest after suffering from severe injuries.

“Namatay sya, inatake siya sa puso dahil sa injuries nya,” Carmina told INQUIRER.net in a telephone interview.

In an earlier interview, Carmina said her son attended the Aegis Juris fraternity’s welcome ceremony at the UST on Saturday.

She said they even personally sent him to school that morning to attend classes and go to the fraternity’s affair that night.

At around 9:00 p.m., Carmina said his son even texted her that he was in UST with his fraternity brothers, and promised to return home the following day.

But her son did not come home on Sunday. She merely received a text message from an anonymous sender early Monday, telling her that her son was at the Chinese General Hospital.

Carmina also said that she eventually learned that her son was found dumped on a sidewalk in Balut, Tondo, Manila on Sunday —his body bloated, full of drops of candle wax and wrapped in a blanket.

A motorcycle rider, she added, allegedly saw her son and brought him to the hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.

According to the website of UST’s Faculty of Civil Law, the Aegis Juris fraternity is a recognized law school-based fraternity in the campus.  /kga

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