Story By: Michael Leidig, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report

A farmer jailed for burning his girlfriend’s two-year-old son to death after accusing her of stealing money from him has been found dead in a police jail cell.

Cops in the region of Maigo which is located in the province of Lanao del Norte in the Philippines say they found farmer Florencio Curay hanged from a rope when they went to check up on him.

He had been locked up in a detention cell after allegations that he had flown into a rage when getting home drunk and accusing his girlfriend Janet Balde of stealing from him.

He had been unable to find money where he believed he had left it, and accused her of theft, dragging her outside with her son and attacking her.

The woman managed to flee, but left behind her son aged two, who was then burned alive in an apparent revenge attack by the angry farmer.

He was later arrested, and it was reported he had offered the natural father of the boy P100,000 as compensation in exchange for not pressing charges. But the devastated dad had refused, and insisted he bought in front of the court.

Lieutenant Baltazar Deguilmo, chief of Maigo Municipal Police Station said that since his arrest he had seen depressed and refuse to eat, and they had investigated when his fellow detainees said he had been locked in the toilet for some time.

The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.