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ZAMBOANGA CITY – Police authorities in Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte said they still did not have any lead in Wednesday’s rape-slay of a 14-year-old girl inside a church property there but several “persons of interest” had been considered.
Supt. Roland Baraquio, the Sindangan police chief, said based on their initial investigation, the girl was sexually abused before the perpetrators strangulated her to death inside a building owned by the Immaculate Conception Piao Parish in Barangay Goleo in Sindangan.
The building served as home for the parish’s workers and their families.
“We have a number of persons of interest as we continue with our investigation. Everyone including family members, occupants inside the house, neighbors and friends,” Baraquio said.
He said earlier on Wednesday, the girl still went to school at the Sindangan National High School but school officials asked her father to fetch her as she was reportedly not feeling well.
“The father brought home his daughter and returned to his work,” Baraquio said.
The girl’s body was discovered by her younger brother around 6:05 p.m. on the same day. It was her father who told investigators that they found her underwear pulled below her knee and that her neck showed discoloration.
Baraquio said based on the findings of the Zamboanga del Norte Police Crime Laboratory, the girl was killed by strangulation.
“They also recovered semen from the girl’s private part, an indication that she was sexually assaulted,” the police official said.
High school students of the Sindangan National High School had launched a campaign demanding justice for the victim.
The campaign had generated support among Facebook users that one of them even wrote a poem for the victim.
“A tribute to those beautiful lost souls. Especially to our co-Sindanganon… Wrote this piece a while ago due to anger and frustration. I haven’t written anything for a while but indeed an extreme emotion will lead you to create something. Let justice be serve(d). Kill the criminals, save the victims, spread the news and let us fight for her and all the victims of injustice. To (the girl), I may not know you personally but you touched my heart in a special way. Keep shining,” said one Facebook user. /jpv
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