Woman slain in rape try

MANILA, Philippines - A 23-year-old woman was stabbed dead by an unidentified man who broke into her family’s house in Sta. Mesa, Manila and tried to rape her before dawn yesterday.

Ara Villaruel’s screams woke up her sister, Erika, at around 4 a.m. Ara had been sleeping by the window on the first floor of the house when she was attacked.

Erika, 20, told The STAR that when she went downstairs, she saw a man running away while her sister had stab wounds in her hands, chest and genitals.

She said since the first floor was dark, she could not see the assailant’s face. Erika said what was apparent to her was that her sister had struggled with her attacker – the knife used to stab her was bent and there were defensive wounds on her wrists. 

Erika said by the time she reached her sister, the victim was no longer able to talk and, within minutes, had drawn her last breath.

Erika and her younger siblings rushed Ara to the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Police officers found that a jalousie slat was missing from a window that was less than an arm’s length away from the main door. Erika said the assailant had fled through the same door. 

Erika said she does not know if her sister had a suitor or stalker. Their father Enrique, a former barangay chairman in Calatagan, Batangas, said he only found out about Ara’s death from Erika.