Police have temporarily released from jail a farmer tagged as person of interest in the alleged rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Barangay Magcagong, Maragusan, Davao de Oro.

Maragusan Municipal Police Station Commander, Major Ariel Pascual, said the regular filing of rape and murder charges will proceed after they failed to place the person of interest under inquest proceedings.

Once the Prosecutor’s Office finds probable cause to elevate the case to the court, an arrest warrant will be issued against the person of interest.

Authorities are set to conduct DNA testing, which will determine if the said person of interest is responsible for the rape and murder of the girl.

The victim was found dead in a banana plantation two days after she was reported missing last February 25, 2024. She was last seen alive with the farmer.

(via John Ryan Calonia/GMA Super Radyo Davao)