Police in the Philippines are investigating the shocking death of a flight attendant who may have been raped by as many as 11 men after a New Year's Eve party last week.
The woman, 23-year-old Christine Angelica Dacera, was found unresponsive in the bathtub of her hotel room in Makati City on Friday morning, according to multiple reports. Her body was covered with bruises that were consistent with a brutal sexual assault, cops told news outlets on Tuesday.
"For sure, there was force on the body," Makati Police Chief Col. Harold Depositar told CNN Philippines. "Those contusions, abrasions, that laceration, that's not normal in an intercourse."
The victim, who worked for Philippine Airlines Express, also had "lacerations and sperm in her genitalia," Depositar said.
© InstagramChristine Angelica Dacera
Christine Angelica Dacera (Instagram/)
She was pronounced dead at a hospital the same day.
Three men have since been taken into custody, but police are on the hunt for eight others. They face a provisional charge of rape with homicide, which could change depending on autopsy results and a toxicology report, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
Police said the suspects were in the same hotel as Dacera on New Year's Eve, but only three of them were her friends.
"The others were practically strangers to her, as they were only known to her three friends," Depositar told the paper.
Emergency responders initially thought the woman suffered an aneurysm before they found evidence suggesting she was attacked, according to police.
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Even if some of the 11 men did not engage in the suspected gang rape, they could still face charges.
"They could have stopped it. or reported it immediately," Depositar reportedly said. "This is a classic example that an act of one is an act of all."
Makati City is a financial hub just south of Manila, the country's capital.