THE suspect in the kidnapping of an eight-year-old Filipino-Korean girl is now in police custody.
Godiflor Rama, 32, apologized to the family of the child.
Rama was captured on CCTV camera leaving an apartment in Barangay Bakilid, Mandaue City, while dragging a bag that contained the child on Thursday afternoon, August 10, 2023.
However, with the aid of the CCTV footage and the residents, the police were able to find him and rescue the child inside the suspect’s rented boarding house, which is located around 500 meters from the victim’s residence.
The victim was unharmed but sustained minor scratched as her hands, feet, and mouth were wrapped using a packaging tape. She also tried getting out of the suitcase.
In a media interview on Friday, August 11, 2023, Rama, who worked as the apartment's caretaker for more than a year, said that he committed the crime in retaliation for the child's grandparents, who allegedly accused him of stealing items from their apartment.
He added that he had no intention to harm or sexually assault the child but rather to let her relatives experience the pain he felt as a result of their accusations.
"Ibalik raman nako ang bata after six hours. Gipakaun ra nako sya, gipadula ug games," said Rama.
(I had intended to bring the child back in six hours. I fed her and let her play games).
Rama, who also served as the caretaker of the apartment building owned by his elder sister, where the victim’s grandparents and parents each rented a unit on the second and third floors, leaving the unit in the ground floor empty, claimed that prior to the incident, he and his sister were arguing so he made a decision to buy a suitcase as he was preparing to leave and live separately.
He claimed that the accusations made against him by the girl's grandparents, who claimed he had stolen their belongings from their apartment, including a garbage can, hangers, and a broom, added insult to injury.
According to Colonel Jeffrey Caballes, Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) director, the victim left the apartment to buy a drink at a nearby sari-sari store owned by her aunt, but when she came back, the suspect took her to an empty room on the ground floor and put her in a suitcase before leaving the apartment.
Stephanie Randal, the victim's aunt said she immediately went out aboard her motorcycle to look for her niece and asked nearby establishments to review their CCTV cameras to possibly track the suspect's whereabouts.
Caballes said that the suspect took the girl against her will since he was aware that the victim's mother would not permit him to take the girl outside.
The MCPO chief said the child had been visiting the store nearly every day to make purchases until last Thursday, August 10, when the suspect forcibly seized her, adding that the child's parents had not anticipated it would happen to her.
Caballes revealed that the victim's grandfather was astonished to hear about the occurrence as he was talking with the suspect before the incident and that everything seemed to be going well.
The suspect will be subjected to a drug test and a background inquiry to discover if he has any pending criminal cases, while the victim will undergo physical and psychological examinations.(HIC, TPT)