Another day in paradise

[Mulboyne]

Daily Star: Alleged pimp slashed teen, police told

The face of a 16-year-old girl was slashed with a cutter blade allegedly by a 33-year-old "pimp" at the Goldenfields Commercial Complex in Bacolod City at about 2 a.m. Sunday. The girl, whose name is being withheld by the DAILY STAR, told the police she was attacked by Ma. Lily Lurido Yasuma who hit her face with a cutter blade, causing injuries. The latter was mobbed by bystanders in the area, police reports said. Yasuma, who is now detained in the lock-up cell of Police Precinct 8, yesterday denied the allegations, saying she was not a "pimp" and had not transacted business with the complainant. On Friday, Yasuma said she, her Japanese husband and his friend, Koji Matsuyama, went to the Goldenfields Commercial Complex to drink. She said Matsuyama asked her to find him a woman so she transacted with a pimp to look for prostitutes.

She said the pimp transacted with the complainant and her friend and paid them P1,500 [2500-3000yen] each to accompany Matsuyama. She said the girls went with Matsuyama to a hotel in the area, but left him while he was playing in the casino. The complainant, on the other hand, denied she was a "prostitute" and claimed she just accompanied her friends to go to a disco in the area. She said she was surprised when Yasuma approached her and mauled her in front of the public. Yasuma, meanwhile, said the complainant and her friend fooled Matsuyama by taking his money and did not give him their services. She also denied owning the cutter blade that was recovered from the crime scene.

Also detained in the lock-up cell of Precinct 8 was Edwin Flores Deblois, 33, of Brgy. Singcang-Airport who reportedly tried to choke the complainant during the commotion. Deblois denied the accusation, saying he just happened to pass by the area when he saw Yasuma, who is his employer, in a coffee shop, engaged in a commotion. He said he only pacified Yasuma and the complainant. Meanwhile, Bacolod City police director Senior Supt. Pedro Merced yesterday said he has instructed the Women and Children Concern's Desk to file charges of serious physical injuries against Yasuma and the "pimp", who remains at-large.