CEBU CITY – Police on Wednesday, Jan. 12, arrested the suspect in the killing of a 10-year-old girl, whose body was found dumped in a cave in Talisay City, southern Cebu.
Ian Rey Baculi, 18, a resident of Barangay Maghaway, Talisay, owned up the crime when police arrested him, said Police Lt. Col. Randy Caballes, chief of the Talisay City Police Station.
"His statement coincided with those of the witnesses," Caballes said.
Caballes said there were at least seven witnesses who pointed to Baculi as the one who killed Kiara Namanama.
Some witnesses claimed to have seen the suspect carrying the girl's body, police said.
Baculi was arrested in a mountainous area in Barangay Campo 5, Talisay.
"We went to his house in Maghaway but he was not around. We were tipped off that he was in Campo 5 so we proceeded there," Caballes said.
Namanama was found dead in a cave in Barangay Tapul, Talisay last Sunday or three days after she was reported missing.
The girl went with her mother to do the laundry in a river on Thursday, Jan. 6, but was nowhere to be found after bathing in the river.
In an interview with reporters, Baculi admitted tailing the victim on her way home.
The suspect admitted choking the victim until she lost unconsciousness and admitted that he raped the victim when she fell unconscious.
The suspect told reporters that he didn't plan to kill the girl and that he was not high on drugs when he committed the crime.
"Murag wa nako kaila niya mao nabuhat to nako niya (It was like I didn't know her that's why I did it (crime) to her)," Baculi said.
Baculi sought forgiveness from the girl's family after knowing that the victim was his distant relative.
Police said the suspect is a notorious thief in his barangay and was allegedly into using and selling of illegal drugs.