Teenage boy nabbed for 5-year-old girl's rape-slay

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - The Kidapawan City police on Thursday arrested and turned over to local social welfare authorities a teenager for killing and allegedly raping a five-year-old daughter of a Christian preacher.

The victim was found dead by neighbors on a grassy lot in Barangay Manongol in Kidapawan City late Wednesday.

Genevieve was supposed to be crowned as third runner-up in their day care center's Miss Valentine's Children's pageant on Thursday afternoon.

Edgar Gallamos, chairman of Barangay Manongol, said the victim’s parents are active preachers of a local Christian sect.

Gallamos said the five-year-old child was reported missing by her parents Wednesday afternoon.

He said villagers who helped in a community-initiated search found the child's lifeless body sprawled on the ground in an open field. The girl's head was bashed with a blunt object.

Superitendent Joseph Semillano, chief of the Kidapawan City police, said policemen have arrested a 15-year-old male whom neighbors tagged as Genevieve’s killer.

“Because he is a minor, we cannot reveal his name. We’re now doing the documentation of the crime with the help of the Department of Social Welfare and Development,” Semillano said.

He said the suspect has rights that have to be protected under the Anti-Juvenile Delinquency Act.

Semillano said the 15-year-old suspect has confessed to killing the child, but denied molesting her.

Semillano said they still have to wait for the result of the medico-legal examination being initiated by government physicians to determine if the slain child was molested.