One of 6 San Mateo `rapists' falls

One of six men who allegedly raped three high school coeds last Jan. 28 in San Mateo, Rizal finally fell into the hands of the law.

The suspect, Ludovico Anke, 40, was arrested by a police team led by Senior Inspector Ferdie Santos inside an abandoned house in Barangay Bagong Silang in Quezon City at about 1:30 a.m. yesterday.

One of the victims and her mother positively identified Anke as one of the rapists during a confrontation at the San Mateo police headquarters. Anke denied the charges.

Santos said revenge could be the motive behind the rape because the victims' families had a quarrel with Anke's relatives, who are their neighbors in Barangay Dulongbayan, San Mateo town.

The three students and the mother of one of the girls were on their way home after attending a school meeting when the six men blocked their path and, at knife-point, dragged the girls to the bank of the Tumana River where they took turns in raping the teeners.

San Mateo Mayor Crispin Santos gave a P20,000 reward to Santos and his men for Anke's arrest. He, too, shelled out another P20,000 to help the victims.