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| Lorain Asuncion |
By Vir B. Lumicao
A forensics report on the comprehensive second autopsy on the
remains of a Filipina maid who died in a fall from a residential tower in
Shenzhen in July suggested no foul play, supporting a similar finding by the
police on the mainland.
Relatives of the deceased expressed hope the findings would not adversely affect Hong Kong
police investigation of the maid’s employers in connection with the tragedy.
The autopsy findings
by the Center of Forensic Science Guangdong Medical University indicated the
deceased, Lorain Escorial Asuncion, 28 and single, died from multiple organ
injury and massive blood loss.
The findings appeared to support an earlier conclusion by
the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau that the Filipina died from falling.
The English translation of the five-page forensic report was handed by the Department of Foreign
Affairs to Jenevieve A. Javier, the elder sibling of Asuncion , on Oct 13.
Javier said a DFA officer who turned over the findings said Asuncion ’s remains might
be released and repatriated before the end of October.
“Sana
lumabas ang katotohanan…ang sa amin lang, magbigay sila ng ebidensiya na ginawa
talaga niya yung sinasabi ng amo na nag-commit siya ng suicide,” Javier told
The SUN in an online message.
The report said that while Asuncion’s face was intact with
no deformity of the skull and face, her chest had collapsed and was deformed
with several broken ribs that pierced her left lung, causing it to rupture and
bleed. Her upper left arm also broke and her right foot was deformed, possibly
on impact.
The report also said that no foreign matter was found in her
uterine cavity, indicating no sexual assault.
An initial Shenzhen police autopsy of the victim’s body in
August also ruled out foul play and classified Asuncion ’s case as “death by falling”.
But her relatives doubted the initial report because Asuncion ’s face was
intact, which they thought was inconsistent with her having fallen from the 22nd
storey flat of her female employer’s father in Longgang District.
The Filipina had traveled to Shenzhen on July 22 this year
on her employers’ instructions to join them in their summer vacation there. But
when she got there, her employers Gu Huaiyi, his wife Ms Liu their children had
gone to other parts of China
and the helper was forced to stay in the house Liu Heping, her employer’s
father.
The next morning, the elder Liu called the police to report that
the Filipina had gone missing but her belongings were in his flat. A day later,
Liu again called the police to say he had found Asuncion ’s body in the garden below his flat.
The maid’s employers were arrested by Hong
Kong police in August and were being investigated allegedly for
violation of immigration rules in connection with taking their helper to work
across the border.
They were released on police bail but were due to report to
the police headquarters any day now for further investigation.
Sources at the Consulate told The SUN Hong Kong
investigators were also awaiting the result of the second autopsy.
