Girl’s dream to be a teacher shattered with rape-slay

BALANGA CITY, Philippines – The dream of a 12-year-old Grade 5 pupil in Limay, Bataan to become a teacher someday was shattered last Friday morning when she was dragged into a bamboo-planted area where she was raped and killed.

Police said relatives of Arlene Daulat, a student at the Bliss Elementary School, followed a swarm of flies that led them to her decomposing body about 300 meters away from her house in Barangay St. Francis Uno, Limay town, last Sunday afternoon.

The girl, according to authorities, was found lying face down on a plastic mat and tied up with vines, and her head bashed with a hard object. Although she had her clothes on, she had abrasions and lacerations on her genital area.

Police had invited Wilfredo Remetio, 52, caretaker of a homestead near Daulat’s house, for questioning.

For several days, Remetio was reportedly seen near the victim’s house whenever her father, Allan, 38, a cogon (wild grass) gatherer, was out in the morning.

According to Allan, his daughter joined them for breakfast last Friday but failed to return home for lunch.

He said they thought that she went out with her classmates since they had asked permission from their teacher that they would skip class last Friday as they had completed their final examinations.

The victim’s mother, Evangeline, 32, said, “I never thought that was her last breakfast with the family.”

“Ever since, her dream was to finish an elementary education course and she had maintained good grades despite the hardship of attending school about three kilometers away from our house,” she said.