Islamic religion student slain near scene of deadly Maguindanao Sur ambush

March 20, 2024 | 5:17pm

COTABATO CITY — Relatives want an extensive probe on the brutal killing of a 16-year-old Islamic religion student, found dead on Monday in Barangay Tuayan in Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao del Sur near where four soldiers were fatally ambushed by local terrorists the day before.

The patriarch of the slain Abdulrahman Esmail, Salahuddin, told reporters via mobile phone on Wednesday that there were signs that his son was tortured before he was shot in the upper torso that caused his death.

Esmail was a hafidz, which means one who is studying Islam in a Madrasah, or Islamic school, in Datu Hoffer.

“I learned of his death when I was notified by barangay officials that I need to get his cadaver from where they found it,” Salahuddin said in Filipino, in a Maguindanaon accent.

Four soldiers, Pvt. Marvin Dumaguing, Pvt. Jessie James Corpuz, Pfc. Carl Araña and Cpl. Creszaldy Espertero of units under the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, were killed in an ambush in Barangay Tuayan on Sunday by members of the Dawlah Islamiya and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

The four soldiers in a vehicle on their way to their command post in Barangay Tuayan when members of the two terrorist groups opened fire as they got close, killing all of them on the spot.

Their attackers finished them off with rifle shots in the head, according to barangay officials and the local police.

Meanwhile, Salahuddin has alleged that his son was last seen riding a motorcycle when he was flagged down for inspection by soldiers at a stretch of a farm-to-market road in Barangay Tuayan.

He said that his son was found by villagers on Monday lying dead on the ground, both hands and feet tied to a piece of bamboo.

“He seemed beaten badly first before he was killed,” Salahuddin said.