Sunday, July 8, 2012

Girl, 13, left for dead in an old well

..CEBU CITY -- A 13-year-old girl was found hog-tied and dead in an abandoned well in Sitio Dalinson, Barangay Tigbawan, Tabuelan early Friday morning.

Jelina Lahoylahoy, a second-year high school honor student of San Remigio National High School, was found by her brother and uncle past 8 a.m.

She was only five days away from celebrating her birthday.

Although the area was only two kilometers from the girl’s house, it was a secluded spot.

“Mingaw gyud kaayo kay dili ni masudlan ug sakyanan (It’s isolated and not accessible by vehicles),” the Tabuelan police chief, Inspector Roberto Hugo, said.

Jelina’s neck bore strangulation marks while her hands were tied together with a black plastic straw, when she was pulled out.

She was still clothed, but her face bore several bruises and scratches. Her bag was missing.

Inspector Hugo told Sun.Star Cebu that the girl’s 61-year-old father Romendo reported that she was missing at Friday midnight, after Jelina failed to return home from school.

Hugo said he fielded several policemen the morning after, only to learn that the family had found the girl.

It was Jelina’s brother Jonie who went down the well and pulled up the girl’s body by strapping a rope around her.

Dr. Nestor Satur, chief medico-legal officer of the Regional Crime Laboratory-Central Visayas, went to Tabuelan on Friday to conduct an autopsy.

Her parents can’t understand how anyone could harm their girl, the youngest of seven children, police said.

She was last seen by their neighbors three kilometers away, while on her way home. The houses in the neighborhood, which relies mostly on farming, are situated far from one another. Tabuelan lies more than 86 kilometers northwest of Cebu City.

The police chief, during the interview, said they are eyeing at least three culprits, who could have raped the girl. (Sun.Star Cebu)

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