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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Christine Dacera's camp requests for second autopsy, 'disputes' natural cause behind her death

Christine Dacera's camp requests for second autopsy, 'disputes' natural cause behind her death

Published Jan 6, 2021 02:52 pm

The camp of Christine Angelica Dacera, the flight attendant who was found dead at a Makati hotel, has requested for another autopsy to be taken on her body as they did not believe that she died due to a natural cause.

Lawyer Brick Reyes, the counsel for Dacera family, on Wednesday said that they asked for a second autopsy "to be able to clarify exactly what injuries did Christine sustain."

According to him, based on the first autopsy report performed by the police Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO), Dacera's cause of death "was natural," particularly due to "Ruptured Aortic Aneurysm," which he said they "dispute."

"It did not include the initial report the injuries sustained by Christine in her hand and in her legs, which is very apparent," Reyes said over CNN interview.

"That’s why we took photographs of it, and we are using this as a basis for our...the family’s claim that she was raped with homicide," he added.

Reyes also said they were "surprised" that the result of the medico-legal report allegedly "overlooked" the injuries sustained by the victim.

"The certificate of death is very simple and basic. It does not include the detailed description of the injuries," he said, calling out the initial police investigation which implied that there was no foul play in Dacera's death.

"Even the official police investigation, they were making overtures about no foul play. And we were saying, if you are an investigator and these kinds of injuries, we should first investigate properly before you make statements like there's no foul play," he added.

Reyes said, they are expecting the release of the second autopsy result by next week.

Dacera's camp also believes that aside from being sexually abused, the victim was also drugged "that early morning of January 1st, which explains her incoherent behavior which eventually led to her collapse and probably sexual assault by different individuals."

Reyes also said there were a total of "16 men" who supposedly ganged up on just "one woman."

"The family believes that she (Christine) was not aware of this number of people who were going to participate in their celebration for New Year. She probably thought it would just be her friends from ," the lawyer added.

As 11 suspects were already named by the police, Reyes said, they are still "in the process of identifying" more individuals from the other room.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Sharon Dacera, the mother of the victim, said they were grateful for the help and support being given by the police and President Duterte to them in their investigation.

Dacera was found lifeless by her friend, who was now tagged as one of the suspects, in a bathtub inside Makati City hotel on January 1.

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