A Philippine Airlines flight attendant was raped in a group and murdered in a hotel room following a New Year’s Eve party – and 11 men were arrested for the heinous attack, it was revealed on Tuesday.
Christine Angelica Dacera, 23, was found unconscious in the empty tub of her room in Makati City in early January, the Philippine Daily Inquirer said. Friends and hotel staff took her to a nearby hospital, where she was later pronounced dead, newspaper officials said.
“Based on the initial investigation, sexual abuse took place “, the spokesman of the Philippine National Police, Brig. General Ilderbrandi Usana told the newspaper.
She had “lacerations and semen in her genitals,” as well as scratches on her arms and legs, police said.
Police in the city of Makati on Monday filed a provisional charge of rape with murder against 11 men who were with her during the party, the newspaper shows.
Three of them were arrested while the others were still being hunted, the chief of police in Makati, Colonel Harold Deposita, told the Daily Inquirer.
“Only three of them were friends of Dacera. The others were practically strangers to her, because they were known only to her three friends “, said the police chief.
Dacera was a flight attendant for the Philippine Airlines (PAL) Express, which said it was “mourning the tragic death.”
“Our wish is for the truth to appear in the interests of justice,” the company told the newspaper on Tuesday.
Her mother, Sharon Dacera, turned to President Rodrigo Duterte, saying her daughter had been “treated like a pig” in the “barbaric” crime.
“Christine does not deserve this brutality … they must be punished,” said the grieving mother, according to the Daily Inquirer.