Body of 2-year-old girl, a suspected rape victim, found in Dauin, Negros Oriental

The grief-stricken father picks up his lifeless two-year-old daughter who was found in a grassy area in Barangay Maayong-Tubig, Dauin, Negros Oriental on Oct. 17, 2019, hours after she went missing. The girl was believed to have been raped.| CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental — The body of a two-year old girl suspected to have been raped before she was killed was found at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 17, 2019, in a grassy portion of a lot in Purok 2, Barangay Maayong-Tubig, Dauin, Negros Oriental.

Police Captain Ian Baldomero, chief of the  Dauin Police Station, said in an  interview that the body of Angel (not her real name) was found by a resident passing through the area.

The 33-year-old male suspect of the heinous crime has been already identified based on the statement of witnesses, according to Baldomero. 

“Naa may mga bata nga mihatag ug statement nga siya (suspect)…..he was  the last person seen during the time nga nawala ang bata (that the child went missing), according to Baldomero.

However, Police Colonel Rizalito Gapas, acting provincial director of the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NOPPO),  in a text message asked that the name of the suspect be withheld because of the ongoing manhunt operation.

Baldomero said the victim was reported missing by her family since 4 p.m. of October 15, 2019. But the family, even with the help of the barangay officials, failed to locate the missing victim.

It was only this Thursday morning that the body of the girl was found.

Based on the investigation, Baldomero disclosed that the pajama of the victim was found in the house of suspect. 

Police also found bloodstain on the bamboo floor of the suspect’s house, he added.

Baldomero clarified the police would wait for the official report from the PNP Crime Laboratory to confirm if the two-year old victim was raped./elb