• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The welcoming of 2024 was met with violent incidents, as three persons died while seven others were injured in series of stabbing incidents on December 31 last year and January 1 in Negros Occidental, as reported by the police.
The fatalities were two laborers and a farmer, as three suspects remain at large as of this time.
Initial police investigations revealed that a 46-year-old farmer, whose identity was withheld, was stabbed in the abdomen while inside his residence, without any provocation, by a suspect who was under the influence of liquor, in Brgy. Damutan, Hinobaan.
The victim was declared dead on arrival at the Candoni Rural Health Unit, while the suspect, also a resident of the place, immediately fled after the incident on December 31.
The lifeless body of a 25-year-old laborer, whose identity was also withheld by the police, apparently succumbed to multiple stab wounds, after he was discovered at Purok Sunrise Village in Brgy. Blumentritt, Murcia, also on Dec. 31.
Another 41-year-old laborer was also declared dead on arrival at the Cadiz Emergency Clinic, after he was stabbed as a result of misunderstanding, also on Dec. 31 in Hacienda Crisjun, Brgy. Jerusalem, Cadiz City.
Prior to the incident, the victim and the suspect were both under the influence of liquor, according to the police.
The suspect also fled immediately after the incident.
Seven other victims of stabbing incidents in San Carlos City, San Enrique, Pulupandan, La Castellana and Don Salvador Benedicto, survived the attempt on their lives.
One of the suspects is a 90-year-old widow, who apparently stabbed a 23-year-old person with a spear on Dec. 31 in Brgy. Ermita, Sipaway Island, San Carlos City.*
