ALASIAO, Pangasinan - A 69-year old woman, who was being suspected as a witch, died after she was stabbed and hacked to death by a 36-year old man, whose relative was one of the alleged victims of the former at Lumban here Thursday afternoon. Superintendent Rodelio Samson, chief of the Calasiao municipal police station, identified the victim as Felicidad Albania. The suspect, identified as Merlo de Leon, also a resident of Lumban, Calasiao, Pangasinan just like the victim, remains at large. Initial showed that the victim has been suspected of being a witch who reportedly toyed with the suspect's female relative, who eventully suffered from mental disorders. Witnesses informed police investigators that the suspect had been seen around Albania's residence over the past several days, obviously conducting a surveillance of the woman's daily routine so that he could work out his plan against her. Albania reported the matter to barangay officials but nothing was done about the said report.
The suspect is now the subject of a manhunt operation by police operatives as murder charges have been filed against him before the provincial prosecutor's office. Some of the victim's neighbors also informed probers that they saw the suspect emerge from the victim's house with a bloodied knife and bolo and blood stains on his clothes. Relatives of the victim vehemently denied the allegation that their dead kin was a witch, saying that such suspicion has never been proven.
