Robbers kill 8-month-old boy, nanny in Laguna

CALAMBA CITY, Laguna, Philippines – An eight-month-old boy and her nanny were killed while the baby’s mother was critically wounded by three robbers who entered their home, aided by a housemaid, in Barangay Lawa this city yesterday.

The bodies of the boy, Mark Daniel Sindai, and her nanny, Teresita Beth Torres, bore multiple stab wounds, said Senior Superintendent Romulo Sapitula, Laguna police director.

The boy’s mother, Cecilia, was hacked and stabbed in the abdomen and face and was also hit on the face with a piece of steel, he said.

Sapitula said the mother pretended to be dead and when the robbers went to another room, she took the chance to run outside her home and sought help from her neighbors. She was rushed   to the Calamba Doctors Hospital and identified one of her attackers as her 17-year-old housemaid, Sapitula said.

Accompanied by relatives, the housemaid surrendered to police six hours after the crime but denied having a part in it, said Superintendent Marvin Saro, Calamba police chief.

The housemaid though eventually confessed her role in the crime, telling probers that she allowed in the three men, including the Sindai’s former driver Kevin de Vera.

De Vera was later arrested in his house in Barangay San Jose here. His two cohorts are now being hunted.

Sapitula said police found the Sindais’ home in disarray, with jewelry, a laptop, and other valuables missing. – With Arnell Ozaeta