The Mandurriao Police Station is near the plaza where the Ditingki couple their five-year-old son were killed. (Image from Google Maps)
ILOILO CITY — A family of three who fled from their home in war-ravaged Marawi City was attacked while they were asleep in their commercial kiosk at a public plaza near a police station here early Sunday.
Muamar Ditingki, a 29-year-old businessman, and his five-month-old son died after at least one person repeatedly struck them with a hammer.
As of this writing, Ditingki’s wife Asnifah, 21, was in critical condition at the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Mandurriao District, according to Chief Insp. Juvy Navales, Mandurriao police station chief.
“They all had head injuries,” Navales told the Inquirer. “They were struck with the sharp edge of the head of the hammer. The handle was broken because of the repeated blows.”
Police arrested a 28-year-old suspect, Mark Ganava, who was identified by witnesses as the person who fled from the kiosk, where the couple sold ready-to-wear clothing.
Ganava, who is now detained at the Mandurriao Police Station, denied involvement in the attack, said Navales.
She said the Ditingkis were asleep when one or two persons entered their kiosk around 4:15 a.m.
Occupants of adjacent kiosks who checked on the family after hearing noises found them already bloodied.
The kiosks are about 150 meters from the police station.
Physicians at the WVMC pronounced the boy dead on arrival due to a serious injury in the head. His father died shortly after at the hospital.
Navales said investigators were still determining if one or two persons were responsible for the attack and what their motive was.
The Ditingkis have been temporarily staying in Zarraga town in Iloilo after they were forced to abandon their house in Marawi due to the five-month-long occupation of the city by Maute terrorists.
Last week, President Rodrigo Duterte declared the city “liberated.”
Navales said relatives of the Ditingkis were rushing to their remains to Mindanao were they will be buried within 24 hours after death in accordance with Muslim beliefs and practices.
“We will be filing a complaint for double murder and frustrated homicide [against Ganava] as the family is still focusing with the burial of the victims,” she said. /atm