ORMOC CITY – Police Station 6 of the Ormoc City Police Office (OCPO) is preparing to file criminal charges against the mother of a female fetus found being carried by a stray dog in Sitio Lunas, Barangay Can-untog on September 17.
Police Capt. Jefferson Barrios, chief of PS6, said in an interview that two charges are being readied against the suspect, identified as “Mary Jane,” 31, jobless, and living with a partner in Sitio Lunas, Barangay Can-untog.
Barrios said the cases to be filed involve violations of Articles 256 and 258 of the Revised Penal Code, which penalize intentional abortion and self-induced abortion, respectively.
According to investigators, “Mary Jane,” who is currently confined at the Ormoc District Hospital due to severe bleeding, admitted she was the mother of the dead infant. She reportedly told police she had been suffering from stomach pain on September 16 and took a pain reliever. The following day she began bleeding heavily until the child was delivered.
Barrios noted that the suspect did not undergo prenatal checkups and her live-in partner was unaware she was pregnant.
A post-mortem examination conducted by Dr. Jerry Chiong of the City Health Department on the recovered body revealed it to be the lower torso of a female fetus in an advanced state of decomposition, with exposed thoracic spine and no internal organs. The cause of death was listed as “probably stillbirth.”
Police said the suspect remains at her home in Barangay Can-untog as of press time while authorities prepare the formal filing of charges.
(ROBERT DEJON)
