CIDG detainee hangs self in cell

CEBU, Philippines - A detainee of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-7 was found dead inside the detention cell yesterday morning.

In an apparent case of suicide, Viersinito Gubalane, 47, who was earlier arrested for maltreating his wife and illegal possession of firearm, was found with a tie-wire around his neck tied on the iron grill on the ceiling.

PO3 Ramil Retuerto, who was the duty desk officer, discovered Gubalane at 7 am yesterday. He last saw him alive at 2 am.

Retuerto recalled peeping at the detention cell at 2 am and told the suspect to sleep. The suspect allegedly responded that he was not yet sleepy. Retuerto checked the suspect again at 7 am and found him sitting dead on the toilet bowl with his head hanging from the ceiling. He was believed to have been dead since 3 am.

Gubalane, a resident of Barangay Apas, was arrested on Wednesday following a complaint from his wife.

His wife, whose name is being withheld considering the nature of the case, sought the help of barangay officials after the suspect allegedly tried to kill her in front of their children.

The woman, who claimed to be a battered wife since 1996, disclosed that the suspect would sometimes poke a gun at her.

On Wednesday dawn, she was reportedly sleeping when the suspect woke her up, kicked her in the thigh, later drew a gun and cocked it before her, and then threatened to kill her.

The woman said she purposely had her husband jailed to let him learn his lesson the hard way. In fact, the night before the suspect committed suicide, his wife told him that he would soon be released.

The wife went home and returned to the CIDG 7 office yesterday supposedly to see her husband again only to learn that he was already dead.

Even if the suspect is alive, CIDG 7 chief Eddie Benigay said he won’t be released immediately because of his gun possession case. The suspect was also charged for Violation Against Women and Children (VAWC), for grave threats, and for carrying bladed weapons.

Benigay said the incident served them a lesson not to connect wires or other items at the detention cell that detainees with suicidal tendencies could use.

The Homicide Section of the Cebu City Police Office subjected the body to an autopsy and found no indications of foul play apart from a ligature mark on the victim’s neck. —/FPL (FREEMAN)