Original post here
By Aquiles Z. Zonio
Friday, September 23, 2011
TACURONG CITY -- A criminology student of Notre Dame of Tacurong College here died at a hospital due to severe beatings he sustained from an initiation activity of Tau Gamma Phi-Triskelion fraternity.
Nor B. Silongan, 16, a resident of Lambayong town in Sultan Kudarat, died on September 15 and was buried the following day in accordance with the Muslim burial rites.
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Noria Biang, the victim's mother, told Sun.Star Davao that the boy was able to tell her everything before he died at the Allah Valley Hospital in Koronadal City.
Biang said her son arrived home on September 12 unable to walk. Some friends carried him just to bring him home.
But the severity of his condition prompted her to bring Silongan to the hospital where he received medical treatment for five days.
"I kept on asking him but he refused to tell me what happened to him. Then, when he was about to die he decided to tell me everything," the mother recounted between sobs.
Based on what her son had told her, members of the fraternity brought the victim in an isolated area in Barangay New Isabela in Tacurong City where the hazing took place on September 9.
There, she said, 20 members of the Tau Gamma Phi-Triskelion took turns in beating him up.
"When he could no longer endure the pain, he decided to quit. He attempted to run but one of them grabbed his hair then punched him on the abdomen," she said.
While lying helpless on the ground, one of the fraternity members reportedly scooped sand with bare hand and rammed it through her son's mouth.
Aside from the victim, there were two others who were undergoing hazing that time but only Silongan sustained severe injuries, which resulted to his death.
The Silongan family reported the incident to the Tacurong City police immediately after the death of the victim.
The family of the victim also gave to the police the names of those involved in the incident.
"We heard that those involved in hazing were no longer attending classes at Notre Dame of Tacurong College. But, we hope the law enforcers could still apprehend them," the mother said.
She said her family is determined to file formal charges in court against the 20 suspects.
"We are filing charges not only to seek justice for our son but hopefully to prevent similar incident in the future," she said.
According to her, it took days before they finally decided to come out in the open and brought to the attention of the media what had happened to her son.
Sun.Star Davao texted Fr. Tony Pueyo, Notre Dame of Tacurong College director, to get his side but he did not reply. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on September 23, 2011.
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