Spurned suitor stabs Pinay 33 times in Kuwait

A 30-year-old Filipina working as a barista in Kuwait was stabbed 33 times over a laptop given to her as collateral for money borrowed by a spurned Filipino suitor. Bienvenido Espino Jr. has been detained at the Kuwait Central Jail for the murder of Jhias Gumapac on October 30 near a bakery in Salmiya. The Philippine Embassy in Kuwait has been processing the repatriation of Gumapac’s remains to her family in Cagayan de Oro City. The Arab Times reported on Friday that Mylene Espino, a sister of the suspect, asked for forgiveness from Gumapac’s aunt, Susan Gumapac-Simmons, during a meeting at the Philippine embassy last weekend in the presence of Ambassador Ricardo Endaya and administrative officer Tomara Muamar Ayo. Gumapac-Simmons refused to accept the apology, saying the woman’s family in the Philippines could not forgive Espino Jr, and that her parents were demanding the maximum penalty on him. “Her parents are filled with grief over the sudden demise of their daughter and they can’t accept her violent death. Maybe, they would understand if she only had three or four stab wounds but 33 is too much. How can that be?" the report quoted Gumapac-Simmons as saying. Gumapac was working as a barista in one of the coffee shops in Salmiya at the time of her death. She was said to be the breadwinner of the family, supporting her parents with their medications and other needs. “She was a kind, loving and sweet person and a very obedient niece. We will surely miss her. Her family in the Philippines is in deep pain," her aunt said. Michelle Fe Santiago reported for the Arab Times that Gumapac and Bienvenido met on the evening of Oct 30 after the suspect agreed to redeem the laptop from her. But when they met, Bienvenido did not have the money to pay for his loan, so Gumapac refused to turn over the laptop to him. He told her he has a buyer for the laptop, and promised to pay her once it is sold. Gumapac refused and demanded full payment of the loan, plus interest. The exchange prompted Bienvenido to pull a knife to scare her, ending up in a fight that led to her death. The Arab Times however quoted sources who insinuated a love angle behind Gumapac’s death. The report said Gumapac-Simmons admitted that Bienvenido courted her niece, but she turned him down and did not have any relation with him because he is married. - GMANews.TV