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Saturday, November 05, 2005
Pregnant teenager strangled in Carcar
By Charmaine Y. Rodriguez
CEBU CITY -- A 17-year-old girl and the nine-month-old fetus in her womb died after her live-in partner allegedly strangled her with a rope in their home in a fishing village in Carcar, Cebu Tuesday night.
The family of Genessa Abella doubted the claim of Ronnie Bentulan, 25, a fisherman, that she hanged herself so they asked the police to have her body autopsied last Wednesday.
Abella's mother, Cecilia, 54, said doctors found her daughter's baby girl still breathing when they conducted the autopsy. But the baby later died. It would have been the couple's first child.
Abella was due to give birth this month.
In a report by Dr. Fe Lynn Tampon, reviewed by Dr. Grace Alcoseba, both of the Carcar Municipal Health Office, Abella had a rope mark around her neck and a bruise on her left shoulder.
She also had bruises in her lower back and buttocks.
The report did not the state the cause of death, but with the indications of foul play, Carcar police are preparing charges of double murder against Bentulan, said SPO1 Joel Pananganan.
SPO2 Antonio Sabala, who is investigating the case, already questioned Bentulan and secured a sworn statement from Luis Dayondon, who said he saw the suspect strangle Abella with a rope inside their hut in Sitio Guiwanon, Barangay Tuyom past 10 p.m. Tuesday.
Domestic
Bentulan also allegedly mauled Abella, who had shouted for help. However, Dayondon said he decided not to intervene in what he thought was a domestic conflict.
However, police have yet to arrest Bentulan, who was last seen in his family's home in Sitio Tangasan, Barangay Valladolid.
Pananganan said the parents told police that Bentulan went to some relatives in Cebu City but promised to go back to Carcar Friday night.
According to Cecilia, witnesses said the couple was first seen fighting in Barangay Valladolid after her daughter went to see Bentulan, who was drinking with some friends while watching a disco early Tuesday night.
Bentulan allegedly slapped Abella during the argument.
Cecilia said her daughter came to their house about 8 p.m. to ask if they had any pancit left.
However, her daughter went home immediately after she told her they had no more food.
She also said they knew Bentulan had been hitting their daughter, the seventh of their 10 children.
"We thought he'd changed. They even had wedding plans after she'd give birth," Cecilia said.
Bentulan first informed Cecilia that Abella had committed suicide past midnight Wednesday.
Cecilia said she was surprised that Bentulan was so calm and did not appear to have been in despair after losing his partner.
Bentulan also allegedly refused to let anyone change Abella's clothes. Her family was confused why Abella was wearing pants, which did not fit her anymore.
Abella's father, Victor, also told radio dyLA Friday that they wondered how the rope around her daughter's neck killed her when it was tied loosely.
"I told him, 'You are responsible here. Don't leave,'" he recalled telling Bentulan.
He also asked Bentulan's relatives to let him wait for the autopsy results and to make sure he does not escape.
After he found that his daughter's body had bruises, Victor concluded that Bentulan killed his daughter before he hanged her.
Bentulan, they believe, brought her body down before he informed them that she had committed suicide. (With GAC of Sun.Star Cebu/Sunnex)
(November 5, 2005 issue)
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