Pregnant woman, aunt die in blast

Roxas City — Two women, including a 21-year-old pregnant woman who was due to give birth this month, were killed after unidentified men lobbed a grenade at their house in a remote village in Mambuso town a few hours past New Year’s Eve, the police said.

Richell Marquez, who was eight months pregnant, and aunt Nerissa Labado, 22, were sleeping inside their home in barangay Liboo when the grenade exploded about 2:15 a.m. Sunday.

Richell’s sister Marinel, 19, and aunt Maria Sangones were wounded and were brought to the Mambusao District Hospital for treatment.

Nemia Marquez, 56, said her daughters Marinel and Richell were sleeping together in one room while Maria and Marinel were in another room when the assailants lobbed a grenade at their house. Nemia was unhurt because she slept in the kitchen.

She said they went home around midnight after attending a New Year’s Eve party at a neighbor’s house, about 500 meters away, and were already in bed when the attack occurred.

PO1 Roque Guillen of Mambusao police station said investigators recovered the safety pin of the hand grenade from the crime scene.

He said they had difficulty finding witnesses who could identify the perpetrators because the house was located in an isolated area where the nearest neighbor was about 500 meters away.

Guillen said they had yet to determine the motive behind the attack but the Marquez family had filed rape charges against a neighbor before the lower court in Mambusao.

The suspect’s family tried to settle the complaint and offered to pay the Marquez family P50,000, but Nemia refused and pursued the case, which was scheduled for promulgation this month. /INQUIRER