THE brain and heart of slain Filipina domestic helper Jeanelyn Villavende are missing, an autopsy conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on her remains has shown.
“The cranial vault is devoid of brain, instead it is stuffed with five pieces of cloth soaked with blood and one piece of used surgical glove. The heart is missing,” the autopsy report stated.
The report summarized the cause of Villavende’s death as: “Consistent with multiple, severe, traumatic injuries.”
The autopsy was conducted by NBI Chief Medico-Legal Officer Ricardo Rodaje.
He could not be reached for comment on the cadaver’s missing parts.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra he has yet to get a full explanation from Rodaje on the missing parts.
“Di ko alam kung inaalis, dispose or binabalik sa autopsy. Ang makakasagot nyan ang medico-legal. Pinakita lang ng NBI kung ano ang present at the time of the conduct of the autopsy, ano ang condition ng cadaver (I do not know if these parts are removed, disposed of or returned during autopsy. The medico-legal officer will have the answer to that. The NBI just showed what was present and missing at the time of the autopsy, what the condition of the cadaver was),” Guevarra said.
He said he will meet with Rodaje upon his return from Mindanao today, Wednesday.
Guevarra had said on Sunday that Villavende suffered sexual abuse and was badly beaten weeks before her death.
“There were clear indications of sexual abuse. There were also old healed wounds indicating that Villavende had been battered weeks prior to the fateful incident,” Guevarra said.
The NBI autopsy report was a far cry from an embalmment report from the Sabah Hospital in Kuwait, which indicated that Villavende’s death was caused by “acute failure of heart and respiration as result by shock and multiple injuries in the vascular nervous system.”
Downplaying the differences in the NBI and Kuwait hospital reports, Guevarra said the Kuwait hospital could have just missed out on some details of their examination of Villapende’s body.
“Di naman magkaiba ang report. Ang masasabi ko lang incomplete ‘yung report ng Kuwaiti autopsy. Parehas ang cause of death, meaning parehas namatay sa bugbog, so essentially parehas, though meron yatang hindi nakita ang Kuwaiti report (The reports are not difference. The Kuwaiti autopsy is just incomplete. They have same cause of death, though: that she was beaten to death. They are essentially the same, the Kuwaiti report just missed out on some things,” Guevarra said.
The DOJ chief said a laboratory report will fully explain if Villavende was sexually abused and sodomized as evidenced by her injuries.
Villavende’s death took place just five months after she left Manila to work as a domestic helper in Kuwait.
NBI AUTOPSY
Rodaje’s external examination of Villavende’s body showed the victim sustained numerous contusions and hematoma at the “occipital area with severe deep scalp tissue damage.”
Injuries in Villavende’s anus and external genitalia were also noted.
There were also abrasions on her neck and contused abrasions on her face, ear, arm, elbow and hand.
“Lacerated wounds, second and third finger under the fingernail bed, left,” the NBI said in the autopsy report which will was submitted to Guevarra’s office on Tuesday.
“At the back part of the victim, from the left and right scapular area going downwards to the right and left lumbar area, there are infected, healing and healed wounds, the biggest of which is 2.0 by 4.0 centimeter and the smallest is 0.4 to 0.5 centimeter. Also, recent contusions, C-shaped in form are noted,” it added.
Likewise, the autopsy showed that Villavende’s right and left lower extremity and posterior aspect also suffered contusions.
Last week, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said the department has hired a top-notch Kuwaiti lawyer to pursue the case.
Villavende’s employer and his wife, the alleged perpetrators of her killing, are now jailed in Kuwait.
