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SAN LEONARDO, Nueva Ecija: Some 22 colleges students are now facing
criminal charges for allegedly beating four neophytes during the
initiation rites for Delta Phi Omicron fraternity two months ago.
The charges were filed by the National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI) before the Nueva Ecija Provincial Prosecutor’s
Office for violations of anti-hazing law or Republic Act 8049.were
students from Lacson Colleges here.
In the information sheet docketed 08I-2167, the
students were also indicted for violations of Republic Act 8049,
also known as the Anti-Hazing Law and Republic Act 7610 or the
Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Discrimination and
Exploitation Act.
Pedro Roque Jr., NBI Cabanatuan District Office
officer-in-charge, said that two minors from Barangay San Lorenzo,
Gapan City, who were Criminology freshmen filed complaints before
the agency.
Records showed the alleged hazing happened on
July 5 at the residential compound of one Cris Evangelista in
Barangay Mallorca, San Leonardo.
The victims claimed the suspects drove them into
the house of Evangelista where other frat members were waiting for
them.
The suspects did not allow them to take lunch
and instead made them drop to their knees and took turns hitting
them several times with wooden paddles in their behinds and thighs.
They were also slapped in the face, hit with chains and dried tree
branches, and their palms burned with cigarette, among other
variations of torture.
After surviving the ordeal, and told that they
were now members of the fraternity, they were then brought back to
the school.
A victim said her mother noticed the marks in
her legs.
Another witness said in a separate affidavit
that he was hit with a belt and electric cables while the suspects
were laughing and taunting them, “Mamamatay na kayo [you are going
to die].”
A few days later, the victims related the
incident to their teachers who advised them to skip attending
classes for the meantime for fear of reprisals from their
colleagues.
Medical certificates issued on July 17 by Dr.
Genesis Cruz of the Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical
Center in this city showed that Garcia and Lacanilao suffered
wounds, marks of cigarette burns and swelling of skin tissues and
thighs.
-- Armand M. Galang
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