A three-year-old girl was hacked to death while her 14-year-old stepsister’s arm was severed in a grisly knife attack by their father inside their home in Pilar town on Saturday night.

The girls were sleeping in their house in Barangay Estaca when suspect Rufino Ybanez, 31, barged into their room and hacked them, said Staff Sgt. Eugene Omac of the Pilar Police Station.

 “Hing sud siya sa ilang bay, wa nay daghan storya, iyang gipanigbas ning mga bata,” Omac said.

The victims’ mother, Laura Uldebar, who was left unscathed tried to stop Ybanez but was overpowered by the suspect.

According to Omac, the toddler was still rushed to a hospital in Carmen then referred to the Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital in Tagbilaran City where she died later on the same day.

The suspect meanwhile was placed under hospital arrest due to injuries sustained after he stabbed himself in the chest.

He and his 14-year-old stepdaughter were both in stable condition.

The three-year-old was Ybanez’s biological daughter with Uldebar while the 14-year-old is Uldebar’s daughter with another man.

Police remained clueless as to what stirred Ybanez’s fit of rage but Omac noted that the suspect had been drinking alone prior to the attack.

“Pag-uli niya [Ybanez], nagsugba kuno ni og manok unya nag inom siyang usa sa gawas. Paghuman niya’g inom-inom, mao na to” said Omac.

According to Omac, Uldebar and Ybanez also figured in a heated argument days prior to the hacking incident.

“Kani siya [Ybanez] gusto na ibaligya to ilang humay para e-repair sa ilang motor pero misupak man ang bayi mao nagkalalis sila kay ila lagi kunong kan-on to kuno,” he said.

Parricide and frustrated murder charges have been filed against Ybanez.

He will immediately be transferred to a district jail upon his discharge from the hospital. (A. Doydora)