Girl kidnapped for six months released unharmed

A Filipino teenager kidnapped six months ago has been released after her parents paid a ransom.

Karen Lapaz, daughter of a Davao City moneylender, disappeared on September 14 in North Cotabato.

Her parents say the kidnappers asked for the equivalent of Stg£21,000. They haggled it down but refused to say exactly how much they paid.

The 19-year-old was released unharmed.

Miss Lapaz claims her former boyfriend masterminded the plan with his relatives.

She said two of them invited her out, then moved her around from place to place.

She was finally brought to an island where they hiked by day and stayed in Muslim villages at night.

She said she was fed and treated well by her captors.

Her mother, Mary Ann Lapaz, said a week after her daughter's kidnapping, she received a call demanding a 1.5m peso ransom.

She was assisted in haggling by police and government officials.