‘Biter’ beaten to death by cellmates in Antipolo City

SAN PEDRO CITY – A detainee was reportedly beaten to death by his fellow inmates inside a police detention cell in Antipolo City in Rizal province.

The victim was identified as Margine Sanchez, who was arrested for theft not more than a month ago.

One of the detainees called the jail guard’s attention when Sanchez was allegedly having some difficulty breathing, according to Antipolo police chief Supt. Serafin Petallo, in a phone interview on Tuesday.

He said the incident happened around 5 p.m. on Monday.

Sanchez was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival. It was not long before the doctors and the police discovered several bruises all over his body, Petallo said.

Later, other detainees told police investigators that Sanchez was beaten to death inside the cell. They identified Jimmy Apable, Rodelio Alcuriza, and Daniel Sallan, also detainees, as those responsible for the mauling.

“(Sanchez) had this habit of fighting with his co-inmates, in several instances he would bite them,” Petallo said. “It could be that his co-inmates had ran out of patience for him,” he said.

Once, Sanchez’s family went to the police station and “asked (other detainees) to cut (Sanchez) some slack because he had a history of alcohol abuse,” Petallo added.

Nevertheless, Petallo said it was not enough reason to beat the man. He said a case of homicide would be filed against the three detainees on Tuesday.