CEBU, Philippines - Unbelievable.
This is what Chief Inspector Romeo Santander, head of the City Intelligence Branch, on the claim of a 13-year-old that she was kidnapped near her school in barangay Basak San Nicholas, Cebu City last Thursday morning.
In a telephone interview last night, Santander said there are inconsistencies in the statements of the girl, as well as questions that she failed to answer.
He pointed out gaps in the girl’s statements, especially the part when a concerned civilian supposedly helped her escape from her captor by hitting the abductor.
According to Santander, it is impossible for the concerned citizen, an adult, not to report the matter to the police.
The girl claimed that after being rescued, the man just gave her P15 for fare home and walked away.
They also checked with the Naga Police Station but residents and policemen there did not receive any report of the commotion that the 13-year-old girl said supposedly happened.
The girl had said she was abducted from the vicinity of her school at 7 a.m., forced at knifepoint to ride a yellow multicab. According to her, they stopped at two schools in Minglanilla as the two men wanted to kidnap more children. It was during a stop in Naga, she said, that she dared to escape because the knife was no longer pointed at her.
Santander said they had a medical check-up conducted on the girl to see if she had bruises, since she claimed her hair was grabbed and she was hurt during the commotion.
The police chief said he wondered why the girl did not resist when she was forced to ride on the multicab.
The key to solving the issue is for the alleged concerned citizen to surface and corroborate the girl’s statements, said Santander.
As of now, they are still waiting for more movements in their investigation on the girl’s claim.
Earlier, the police lamented that after the kidnap and murder of Ellah Joy Pique, around 20 unconfirmed kidnap stories were reported to the police.
Investigators theorize that these stories were being used by students who were skipping classes. (FREEMAN NEWS)