Extremists threaten to behead Marawi rape suspects

MARAWI CITY, Philippines — Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao ordered the ARMM police on Tuesday to tightly secure the city jail after extremists threatened spring out four confessed rapists for public execution.

The detainees, Jabbar Macacua, Elias Pimping, Salman Udag and Jalil Sani, have all admitted their involvement in the brutal gang rape and subsequent murder of a 13-year-old Maranaw girl on August 14.

The suspects had also allegedly burned with kerosene the cadaver of the child, a relative of ARMM Vice. Gov. Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman.

Religious extremists in Marawi City, a hotbed of Islamic militancy, have warned on Facebook they can get suspects out of jail to be beheaded and burned in public for the offense.

Hataman, chairman of the ARMM's inter-agency peace and order council, had called on the Lanao del Sur police to expedite the prosecution of the culprits for relatives of the victim not to resort to retaliation.

The victim's relatives have branded the rape-slay incident an affront to their "maratabat," which means clan pride and honor.

Local officials said up to seven men could be involved in the atrocity, but only four have so far been arrested.

Investigators have confirmed that the arrested suspects are all hooked to methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as shabu.

Rumors suggest that more than P100 million worth of shabu are being sold in Marawi City and nearby Lanao del Sur towns monthly by criminal networks run by influential Maranaws.