The remains of Jerold Latara, an inmate at the Caloocan City Jail, who allegedly died due to “takal” or the practice of hitting prisoners with a wooden paddle or bat as punishment, are set to undergo an autopsy.
Latara’s younger sister went to the Caloocan City Police station on Saturday and formally filed a case against the jail officers on duty on March 19, 2021 when Latara died.
Caloocan City Police Chief PCol. Samuel Mina personally handled the complaint of Latara’s family in addition to giving them some financial assistance.
The family recently sought the help of the Caloocan City government, particularly Mayor Oca Malapitan and Mina, to clarify the real cause of his death.
Based on the statement by Latara’s wife, city jail personnel called his sister at around 1 p.m. on March 19 informing her that he was at the Caloocan City Medical Center (CCMC).
However, when they reached the hospital, they were sent to the morgue where they found Latara’s body.
Wanting to know what happened to her husband, Latara’s wife went to the jail and found out that her husband was beaten up, and allegedly fell ill after the beating that injured his leg.
Meanwhile, the victim’s family was also told that the city jail’s administration had allegedly asked Latara for money several times to process his release last March.
Because the family really hoped Jerold would be released soon, they said they sent money whenever the prison management asked.
They said they did not expect Jerold to be released from the Caloocan City Jail as a corpse.