Robbers barge into balikbayan’s welcome party, rape teenage girl

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga – Police are hunting down six people, including a woman, who robbed an entire family having a welcome party for a balikbayan relative and then raped the 15-year-old daughter of the houseowner in Dinalupihan, Bataan before dawn last Monday.

A belated report reaching the regional police headquarters here said one of the victims called up the Dinalupihan police at about 3 a.m. last Monday to report the incident.

Probers said that at about 1:30 a.m., a 33-year-old female resident of Barangay Bangal, Dinalupihan town and her relatives were celebrating the return of her brother-in-law, a seaman, when the robbers barged into her house and poked guns at them.

The robbbers carted away a portable DVD, a digital camera, two laptop computers, a PlayStation, assorted pieces of jewelry, P1,500 in cash, 200 euros, $870 and three cellular phones.

Not contented with what they had stolen, the houseowner said the four male robbers entered the room of her 15-year-old daughter, a high school student studying in Olongapo City, and sexually molested her while other members of the household were told to lie face down on the floor at gunpoint.

The robbers, according to the police report, casually left the house of the victims as if nothing happened, on board a white Toyota Hi-Lux and an unlicensed, dark-colored sedan.

Investigation showed that the Toyota Hi-Lux was seen parked near the victims’ residence an hour before the robbery.   – Ding Cervantes, Ric Sapnu