Deniece slashes wrist after rape charge junked

MANILA, Philippines - Detained model Deniece Cornejo allegedly slashed her wrist using a metal bottle cap yesterday afternoon following the dismissal of the rape charges she filed against comedian Vhong Navarro last January.

Cornejo is being held in a detention cell at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) office at Camp Crame while she is being tried for the serious illegal detention and grave coercion charges filed by Navarro against her, businessman Cedric Lee and several others for the beating he received in January.

In a report aired on ABS-CBN’s The Buzz, Cornejo’s lawyer, Salvador Panelo, said his client attempted to commit suicide by slashing her wrist as a sign of protest against the “anomalous” dismissal last July 11 of the rape charge she filed against Navarro.

In a statement, Cornejo’s camp questioned the dismissal of the case when she had formally withdrawn the charge last July 4 “so she could focus on her defense” on the serious illegal detention and perjury cases filed against her.

“Dismissal of the rape complaint by the city prosecutor of Taguig, already previously withdrawn by the complainant Deniece, is grave misconduct and smacks of evident bad faith intended to further impair her credibility,” the statement read.

Her camp said Cornejo is suffering from depression and sleepless nights.

Quoting Panelo, CIDG spokesperson Chief Inspector Elizabeth Jasmin said “it was intentional and a sign of protest against the Taguig City prosecutors’ office junking her second rape complaint versus Navarro.”

Jasmin said Cornejo is out of danger since it was a shallow wound. “Her wound was immediately treated inside her detention cell. There was no need for her to be taken out of her cell,” she said.

Earlier, the Taguig City prosecutor’s office junked for lack of probable cause her rape complaint against Navarro for allegedly assaulting her in her condominium unit on Jan. 17.

Cornejo made the accusation after she and her friends were accused of beating up Navarro on Jan. 22, after the comedian was allegedly caught trying to rape her again.