Man nabbed for rape

CEBU, Philippines — A construction worker wanted for rape was arrested Thursday morning in Daanbantayan town by the operatives of Cebu City Mobile Force Company (CMFC).

Ariel Arriegado Cuyos, 23, did not resist when the police served him the warrant of arrest issued by Regional Trial Court Branch 20 Judge Marlon Jay Moneva in Cebu City.

CCMFC chief Lieutenant Colonel Randy Korret said the case stemmed from a rape complaint filed by a minor way back in 2017. The incident allegedly happened in Barangay Talamban, Cebu City where the accused used to work in a construction company.

Korret said Cuyos denied raping the complainant. According to Korret, the accused claimed that he was mistaken for the complainant’s boyfriend.

Cuyos claimed that on the night the alleged raped happened the victim hugged him after she mistook him for her boyfriend. Cuyos said he is wondering why the complainant accused him of rape when it was her who allegedly hugged him.

“Gikan ra ko ato sa balay sa akong ig-agaw, pagbalik nako kay paadto ko sa manokan, ang babaye nigakos sa akoa, na alaan ko niya’g iyang uyab,” Cuyos said.

(I was on my way to the poultry farm from my cousin’s house when the girl suddenly came and hugged me because she had mistaken me for her boyfriend)

Cuyos explained that he did not escape to avoid arrest. He claimed that he was not familiar with the process of the case and that his coming home to Daanbantayan should not be construed as a flight of guilt. He reiterated that nothing happened between him and the complainant.

Meanwhile, police are looking for a Swedish national accused of raping a fellow hostel guest in Cebu City.

Joseph Daniel Arian, 25, was accused of raping a 27-year-old girl inside a pension house on Wednesday dawn. Police Captain Armando Labora, commander of Parian Police Station, said the victim claimed that she met the suspect at a bar and befriended to him on the night prior to the alleged rape incident.

While at the bar, the suspect and the victim allegedly had a drinking session. When the victim got drunk, the suspect reportedly followed her in her room where the raped happened. The victim reported the incident to the police Wednesday afternoon.

A hot pursuit operation was conducted but the suspect was no longer in the pension house.  FPL (FREEMAN)