A 13-YEAR-OLD seventh grader was found dead yesterday morning after he was believed to have been raped by a group of unidentified men in the mountain barangay of Ablayan, Dalaguete.
Police identified the casualty as Jennelyn dela Torre Pia, a relative of Dalaguete Police Station’s chief investigator SPO3 Cleto Pia.
Residents found the victim without clothes and undergarments. Her hands were tied to a tree.
Investigators believe the victim died after she was choked by the culprits, who were possibly illegal drug users.
Pia, in a phone interview, said they are facing a blank wall as to the identities of the rapists.
Before she was found dead, Jennelyn worked as a helper for a family living in Barangay Mantalongon, Dalaguete last Saturday.
She was last seen boarding a minibus at 6:30 p.m.
Two to three men were possibly fellow passengers of the victim and followed her after she disembarked from the bus, said PO1 Julie Tristan Villahermosa in a separate interview.
The other possibility is that the culprits waited for Jennelyn in the dark portion of Ablayan.
Villahermosa said the illegal drug trade is rampant in Mantalongon, a mountain barangay.
High on drugs
The police officer said only a person who is under the influence of illegal drugs can commit such a crime.
Jennelyn’s body underwent autopsy yesterday.
Last Friday night, police arrested John Harvey Puebla Calan, 24, for allegedly robbing and killing Emarie Ortega Augusto, 25, in Barangay Yati, Liloan.
Calan was seen by a witness walking away from the crime scene carrying a bag, which he gave to a woman.
Suspect sighted
The suspect was later seen at the back of his house by the police. Augusto’s cellular phone and P470 in cash were recovered from Calan’s possession.
The phone was identified by Augusto’s mother as the one owned by the victim.