BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – The lead police office probing the murder of Sum-ag teener Pearl Joy Galve is looking at the probability that she was sexually abused before her body was left inside a canefield in a La Carlota City village around 30 kilometers away.
La Carlota City Police Office chief, Lieutenant Colonel Lymel John Pasquin told DNX close to a week after Pearl Joy’s body was found that this is one of the probables in their investigation based on the circumstances surrounding the body.
He said, however, that the post mortem examination on the decomposing body of Pearl Joy cannot establish or point to the indications of rape as her body was already badly decomposed.
Police photos of her body showed her two legs were almost reduced to bones while part of her torso, possibly including her genitals, have already rotted away after more than a week inside the hot, humid canefield.
Pasquin, however, pointed to other indicators on the body like her hands being bound and her mouth being gagged with duct tape.
They have, however, yet to wrap up their probe on the highly-publicized case that sparked an abdiction scare last week almost across the province.
Pearl Joy, a Grade 10 student of the Sum-ag National High School, went missing on 29 July 2024 as reported by her mother, Jenifer.
Her body was found half a month later, 14 August 2024.