A WOMAN was found dead at a sugarcane plantation in Barangay Sta. Cruz in Murcia, Negros Occidental, Thursday morning, July 19.
Police identified the fatality as Eden Dipino, 39, of Barangay Salvacion.
Chief Inspector Roberto Indiape Jr., town police chief, said the victim was on her way to work on Wednesday, July 18, when she was waylaid by unidentified men.
Indiape said the victim usually walks more than one kilometer from their house to the highway, where she rides a bus to Victorias City. She worked in a burger station.
She was found by a sugarcane worker 800 meters away from their house the following day.
The victim has injuries on her neck and bruises on her face. She was almost half-naked.
Indiape said medical results showed that the victim was not sexually molested.
"There was probably an attempt to rape her because of her struggle to resist against the perpetrators," he added.
Indiape said the perpetrators killed her by choking her with the strap of her bag, which was recovered from the scene.
He said they have yet to determine the motive of the incident but they dismissed robbery as the possible angle of the crime because the victim's things were intact.
Indiape is urging nearby residents to help the police in the investigation.