BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Police arrested a man tagged in the rape-slay of a 10-year-old girl in Murcia, Negros Occidental.
He was identified as 21-year-old Edgie Gonzaga. His DNA matched with the specimen recovered from the child’s remains.
Murcia town Mayor Gerry Rojas said Gonzaga – resident of Barangay San Miguel, Murcia – was arrested last week for illegal drugs charges.
Rojas said authorities recovered “sperm function” from the victim’s genitalia and a DNA test later proved it belonged to Gonzaga.
“It took us seven months to solve the case,” Rojas added.
Murcia town police chief Police Major Robert Dejucos, said the DNA results were released last Sunday from Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame.
Due to the findings, Dejucos said they would be filing rape with homicide charges against Gonzaga.
Despite the solid evidences presented against him, however, Gonzaga continued to deny the allegations.
Although Gonzaga had already placed under police custody, Rojas ordered Dejucos to continue investigating the case in order to determine if there were other suspects in the crime.
On Oct. 30 of last year, the 10-year-old victim was found dead in a sugarcane field at the town’s Barangay San Miguel.
A subsequent autopsy of the remains revealed she suffered broken bones on her legs, and injuries on her head.
Police initially believed Gonzaga, the victim’s father, and four other individuals were involved in the crime and were subjected to DNA examination./PN
