3 in gang-rape of 15-yr-old girl in Maguindanao arrested

COTABATO CITY – Police authorities in Buluan, Maguindanao on Tuesday announced the arrest of three men, who were among several suspects in last week’s reported gang-rape and brutal killing of a 15-year old working student at an Arabic school there.

Senior Inspector Victor Pansoy, Buluan police chief, did not identify the suspects pending the arrest of five more men, who were said to have participated in the crime.

On September 5, residents of Buluan were shocked upon learning that a girl, who worked and studied at the Mahad National High School was reportedly raped and killed.

Worst, it was found out that Bainora Solaiman’s body was dismembered before the suspects set it on fire inside the Arabic school’s canteen.

The fire also engulfed the school’s canteen.

“Two of the three arrested suspects were found positive of drug use,” Pansoy told dxMS Radyo Bida here by phone.

Pansoy said the victim, who helped in the school canteen, was not subjected to autopsy and was immediately buried according to Muslim tradition.

He said this was the reason investigators had difficulty determining whether the girl was raped as people have suspected.

Governor Esmael Mangudadatu said the killing Solaiman, a resident of Datu Paglas and a relative, was crime in itself.

He said he had offered reward money for anyone who can provide information that could lead to the arrest of the other suspects.

“We are gathering additional statements from witnesses and the suspects,” Pansoy said when asked about the progress of the police’s investigation of the crime.

It was the second of such incident recorded in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in recent weeks.

Last month, a girl was also raped, killed and torched by suspected drug-crazed men in Marawi City.

The four suspects were reportedly executed by locals after their families and that of the victim’s agreed on it. Edwin Fernandez