Ma says scorned woman was abused by husband

MANILA, Philippines - A woman who shot dead her husband and a security guard at a mall Wednesday night is a victim of marital abuse, her mother told ABS-CBN.

“My daughter should not be in jail because she is not in her right mind. She is so depressed,” Lolita Parro said in defense of her daughter, Shella Macapugay.

Parro belied reports that her daughter had been separated from her husband, Abel, for two years.

She said Abel reportedly raped Shella, who subsequently suffered a miscarriage in March 2010. Parro also showed a computerized tomography scan, done in July 2010, to prove that Shella had been attacked by her husband.

She said her daughter was also confined to a mental health clinic due to depression after her husband left her last January.

“I blame her husband’s family for tolerating his extramarital affair,” Parro said.

Police said Shella is being counseled and is under constant watch in her cell at the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit. Shella tried to kill herself after shooting her husband.