Philippine police begin DNA tests in rape case of US marines

Philippine police forensic experts have begun conducting DNA tests on the underwear and a used condom recovered from the scene of the alleged rape of a Filipina by six American Marine soldiers, officials said Thursday.

"We will check the evidence for whatever bodily fluids ... may it be semen or perspiration," said Chief Supt. Ernesto Belen, chief of the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory in Camp Crame, the headquarters of Philippine National Police in Metro Manila.

Results of the DNA tests would be forwarded to government prosecutors, Belen said, adding that results could be out in two to three weeks.

"They (prosecutors) can then ask for DNA samples from the victims and the accused for matching," he said.

Reports said the 22-year-old college student was raped while inside a van cruising inside the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority complex in Olongapo City on Nov. 1.

A formal complaint has since been filed against the six Americans who were prevented from leaving for Okinawa and are remaining in US custody.

The soldiers were participants in a recently-concluded military exercise with Filipino counterparts.

Source: Xinhua