No lead yet in rape-slay of architect-engineer

DAVAO CITY  (MindaNews / 18 May) –  There is no lead yet on the suspects behind the rape-slay of Vlanche Marie L. Bragas, a 28-year-old architect and engineer, whose body was found around 8 a.m. on Wednesday in a banana plantation in Calinan just hours after she went missing, a police official said.

Police major Catherine dela Rey, DCPO spokesperson, told MindaNews on Tuesday that the result of the autopsy examination on the cadaver of the victim showed that the cause of death was asphyxia by manual strangulation.

She said there was also finding of “recent genital trauma,” confirming that the victim was raped.

Dela Rey added that the victim’s body was covered by dried banana leaves when found in the plantation owned by Subasta Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Agricultural Cooperative (SARBAC) at Purok 6 Barangay Dacudao in Calinan district. 

She said the victim was reported missing around 12:30 a.m. on May 17, but before that, she was last seen boarding a yellow tricycle at Crossing Fausta, Calinan District, Davao City based on the CCTV footage. 

The United Architect of the Philippines-Davao City chapter condoled with the family and said “her rape and subsequent abandonment in a desolate grassland has utterly shocked and anguished us.”

“This unspeakable act goes against the very fabric of humanity and the principles we hold dear as architects, professionals, and fellow human beings,” it said. (Antonio L. Colina IV/ MindaNews)