AHMED Lumangtad Nelmida reportedly missed his family and the only way he could get out of the detention cell of the Pinamungajan Police Station was to drink muriatic acid last Thursday night.
But instead of going home, the 26-year-old murder suspect landed in the hospital, said investigator PO2 Alfredo de Gracia.
Police are looking into how Nelmida got hold of the muriatic acid, which he drank inside his cell’s comfort room.
The chemical was placed inside an unlabeled black plastic container.
Escape attempt
Nelmida, an electrician, was discovered unconscious by fellow detainee Rustom Dayon.
Police Chief Ruben Verbo, PO3 Delbert Barrera, desk officer PO1 Alberto Bibas and other personnel rushed Nelmida to the town hospital.
Nelmida was later transferred to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.
Two hours before the suicide attempt was discovered at 8:30 p.m., de Gracia said Nelmida tried to escape by destroying the ceiling of the detention cell.
He was stopped when Dayon, who was arrested for drug cases, informed the policemen on duty.
Dayon told investigator SPO2 Peter Cuanso that he used muriatic acid to clean the bathroom in the morning.
“Blangko pa gyud mi kon kinsay nagpasulod og muriatic acid sa (We still couldn’t figure out who allowed the muriatic acid inside the) detention cell,” said de Gracia.
Fatal stabbing
Last Sept. 6, Nelmida surrendered to a barangay official after he fatally stabbed his neighbor Redentor Juros Bocago in Barangay Rizal.
Bocago was reportedly drunk and was pelting Nelmida’s house with rocks.
Nelmida and his wife Mafel Joy tried to pacify Bocago, but the latter remained unruly and even threatened to kill Mafel Joy.
This irked Nelmida, who grabbed a knife and stabbed Bocago several times.