Thursday, August 05, 2004 Spooked by 'fatigues', man takes kid hostage By Joy G. Romares
DAVAO CITY -- A man spooked by the sight of three men in fatigues grabbed and took hostage a four-year-old girl at the Piapi Public Market along Quezon Boulevard in Davao City Wednesday morning.
The suspect, Sulayman Pantaw, 32, of Alim Street in Kidapawan City, landed in the hospital after he was nearly lynched by market vendors and trisikad drivers.
The girl, Rubilyn, 4, was accompanying her mother who was selling fish and vegetables in the market around 8 a.m. when Pantaw grabbed her.
"Kalit lang siya nangilog og kutsilyo sa akoa unya gi-hostage niya ang bata," a vendor, who was not identified, said. (He just grabbed the knife from me and took the girl hostage.)
Pantaw dragged the girl toward the road and was hailing a passenger jeepney when a male vendor, identified as Bondyong Marcelo Gultiano, grappled with the knife he was pointing at the girl and held on to it until some bystanders helped by pouncing on the suspect.
"Nasamdan man gani ko sa kamot kay giilog nako ang kutsilyo, wala nako gibuy-an iyang kamot samtang wala nako nakuha ang bata. Gikulata namo siya ug kung dugay-dugay pa nag-abot ang mga pulis, patay siguro siya," Gultiano said. (I was wounded in the hand because I grappled with his knife. I did not release my hold on the hand that was holding the knife until we rescued the girl. Then we mauled him. Had the police not come in time we would have killed him.)
Police investigator William Padao of the Sta. Ana Precinct, who interrogated Pantaw, said the man claimed he panicked upon seeing three men in fatigues.
"Dili unta siya mahadlok kung wala siya'y atraso. Naa siguro siya'y gikahadlukan nga wala ta kabalo nganong nahimo niya 'to," Padao said. (He should have not acted that way if he has not committed something against the law. Maybe he was afraid of something we didn't know anything about that's why he acted that way.)
Police brought Pantaw to the Davao Medical Center for treatment. His head and face were battered.
The girl, who was wounded in the process, was also brought to the hospital.
"Naa sa San Pedro hospital ang bata, dili man kaayo delikado," SPO4 Dilan said. (The girl was taken to San Pedro Hospital. She's out of danger now.)
The Sta. Ana Police is now conducting a thorough background check on the suspect.
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