Plot by 'amulet-makers' to steal child’s body from tomb foiled

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — A group tried but failed to remove the body of a recently buried child from a tomb on Holy Friday, whom they planned to take the child's knees and ears to make "amulets."

Family members of the deceased boy, who passed away from pneumonia and was laid to rest on March 20, along with investigators from the Koronadal City Police Office, informed reporters on Saturday that they are certain the group responsible for the bizarre failed robbery intended to extract parts of the boy's body to create amulets.

There are superstitious, fanatic residents of Koronadal City and in nearby towns in South Cotabato who believe that parts of a human lifeless body that has not decomposed yet are powerful amulets if collected on a Holy Friday.

Police investigators and barangay officials residing around the Barrio 4 Cemetery in Koronadal City said that the plot of the group to steal the remains of the child, named Christian, went awry when they sensed that there were apparently unsuspecting individuals approaching their location.

Members of the dead child’s family, among them his grandmother, Rossana Sebua, had asked the police and barangay officials to cooperate in identifying the culprits for immediate prosecution.