Woman In Baguio City Abducted And Gang-Raped. 2 Of The 7 Suspects Are Policemen.

[Updated on June 3, 10:30 a.m.] A 26-year-old woman who lives and works in Baguio City was reportedly abducted in the evening of May 23 then gang-raped by seven men. The victim who works as a waiter in a fast-food center in the city was allegedly abducted by the seven men at a parking lot in Mines View, forced into a vehicle, brought into a house in Tuding in the town of Itogon, and repeatedly raped. According to the police, the victim is a single mother and hails from the town of Pozorrubio in Pangasinan.

The men allegedly took turns in raping the victim in the course of several days. The incident was reported to the police on the evening of May 29 by a concerned citizen and members of the Mines View Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team or BPAT. The police operations that ensued in Baguio City and Benguet resulted to the arrest of four of the seven suspects. Two of those arrested are police officers in the city.

The two police officers are investigators of Station 3 of the Baguio City Police Office. The four suspects (positively identified by the victim) are now in the custody of the Itogon police. A manhunt is ongoing for the three remaining suspects.

Police Senior Superintendent Rolando Miranda of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) told the local radio station in the city Bombo Radyo that he personally talked to the victim and that he isn't fully convinced of the complainant's testimonies. The BCPO is also conducting its own investigation into the case. Some policemen in the city are also questioning the victim's account of the alleged abduction and rape. According to them, a medical examination of the victim showed the absence of lacerations in her body. This, they added, doesn't fit the complainant's story that she was assaulted by seven men.

[Sources: Bombo Radyo Baguio, Herald Express]

Mountains surrounding Baguio City. Image credit: Dutchy4 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY SA- 3.0)