Ma detained for ‘strangling’ baby

CEBU, Philippines - A two-month-old baby girl died after allegedly being choked and dropped on purpose by her drunk mother in Daanbantayan town last Monday.

This came on the back of a report made by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Philippine National Police saying that the number of child abuse cases in Central Visayas has seen an increasing trend.

Police Officer 2 Faith Rodrigo of Daanbantayan Women’s and Children’s Protection Desk told The FREEMAN that their station received a call requesting for an investigation into the death of a baby in Sitio Pasil, Barangay Maya, Daanbantayan.

Initial investigation revealed that Rosavella Gullen, 33, the mother, rushed and called for help from her cousin “Rose” (not her real name) because her two-month-old daughter “Mary” (not her real name) had died.

But Rose grew suspicious of Gullen after the latter claimed that her daughter died while asleep, falling from the bed, so Rose requested for an autopsy.

Autopsy results, police said, showed that the child’s neck had traces of strangulation and her head showed signs of trauma and lacerations.

Rodrigo said the victim’s 15-year-old cousin “Ruby” (not her real name), who was looking after the child that time, alleged that the mother arrived home drunk past 10 p.m. on Sunday.

Gullen asked Ruby where the father of the child was, and told her to go and look for him. Gullen then allegedly took a baby bottle and filled it with hot water with powdered laundry detergent.

“Miingon ning inahan nga adtoa si Peter (not his real name), kay kung dili siya mouli, kitkiton niya ang bata... Ang tubig ininit gikuha, gibutang sa biberon, gibutangan og (soap powder),” Rodrigo said.

Because she feared that something might happen to the baby, Ruby immediately went out to look for Peter but she failed to locate him.

Ruby went back home and Irene allegedly warned anew that she was to bite the baby if her husband wouldn’t be around soon.

Past 2 a.m., Ruby asked Gullen if she could go home because it was already very late, but the latter grew mad at her and instead asked her what she would do with the baby if she was not around.

“Ingon ang mama nga unya og mouli ka, unsaon man ko ning bata, kitkiton ko ni?” Rodrigo said.

Despite Irene’s answer, she headed home fearing that her mother would scold her for staying out too late.

But when she went out, Ruby allegedly saw Irene choke, drop and push the baby. Afraid of what she saw, Ruby quickly ran home trembling.

Still scared, she could not tell her mother what she saw, until Irene came running and asked for help because her child had died.  Commotion then ensued.

When Ruby was finally able to narrate what she had witnessed, her mother then sought for police help.

The father of the child, after learning what had happened, was furious and did not want to see his live-in partner, according to Rodrigo.

In the couple’s 15 years of staying together, the child was said to be their first.

The mother had denied killing her own baby, claiming it was having a nightmare before falling from its bed.

Despite the denial, the suspect is currently detained at Daanbantayan Police Station and is set to be filed with a parricide case today.

While it has yet to be determined whether the fatality stemmed from Gullen’s abuse, records at DSWD-7 and Cebu City Police Office reveal a surge in child abuse cases this year.

 DSWD-7 has 454 child abuse cases served as of third quarter of 2014.

Even if it could not ascertain the figures for the same period last year where a total of 661 cases were recorded, DSWD-7 specifically said the numbers are increasing.

CCPO has recorded 429 of the same cases in the first three quarters this year compared to last year’s 324, showing an increase of about 24 percent.

DSWD’s data disclosed that abandoned or neglected children topped all cases with 175; physically abused, battered and maltreated cases, 66; and rape cases, 43.

CCPO logged 182 physical injuries and maltreatment cases and 149 for other forms of child abuse. — with Ria Mae Y. Booc/JMD (FREEMAN)