Pa, uncle arrested for girl's rape-slay

Carcar town police yesterday arrested the father and uncle of a 13-year-old-girl who was raped and then killed Tuesday night in sitio Kamang-kamang, barangay Ocaña.

Maximo Laputan, the father of rape-slay victim Mayleen, and his elder brother, Concordio, were arrested after their nephew, Ronnie Tabura, alleged to have witnessed the crime and pointed to his uncles as the suspects.

SPO1 Amelito Agadier of the Carcar police said the suspects were among the six men they had invited for questioning Friday afternoon, as they were seen near the crime scene when Mayleen disappeared Tuesday evening while buying a kilo of rice.

Agadier said Tabura alleged to have witnessed the incident when they returned to the crime scene to look for witnesses. The witness reportedly decided to tell the police about the incident because his conscience bothered him.

Tabura said that before the incident, his uncles convinced him to go with them somewhere. But since he was not told about their plan, Tabura said he went along with them.

He said it was Maximo who dragged her daughter and forcibly brought her to a cornfield, but because the victim resisted, Concordio then stabbed her.

Agadier said they considered Tabura a vital witness to the crime since he gave the full detail of the incident.

Tabura claimed he ran away when the suspects wanted him to also rape the victim even if she was already dying.

The witness said it was Maximo who first raped his daughter.

Maximo's wife Diomedes could not believe his husband was a suspect because she was with him when he asked their daughter to buy something and that he was also around when their daughter returned an hour later after attending a prayer for a neighbor who had died.

Diomedes said her husband could not be a suspect, as the results of the examination on blood and hair samples taken from the crime scene by the police are not yet available.

The suspects' younger sister Esterlita said Concordio could also not be a suspect because he was in Cebu City since Saturday last week and only returned to their place Wednesday night. Concordio is a passenger jeepney driver whose conductor is another brother.

When they invited the brothers for questioning, Agadier said their suspicions grew when Concordio tried to stab him with a kitchen knife while Maximo tried to intervene when the police wanted to take the knife away.

Because of this, police will press a direct assault case against the suspects on Monday, aside from filing a case of parricide with rape against Maximo and a case of homicide with rape against Concordio once the affidavit of the witness is completed. - Flor Z. Perolina