QC maid abused, tortured until she went blind

At an early age of 16, Bonita Baran left her hometown in Catanduanes to work as a house maid in Quezon City. But her aim to find a better life in the city led to a painful fate.

21-year old Baran sued former employers for allegedly torturing her, causing one of her eyes totally blind. PHOTO: Fernande Sepe, Jr.

At an early age of 16, Bonita Baran left her hometown in Catanduanes to work as a house maid in Quezon City. But her aim to find a better life in the city led to a painful fate.

A wheelchair-bound Baran, accompanied by her mother Erlinda and sister Olivia, went to the office of Assistant City Prosecutor Irene Resurreccion to sue her employers Reynold and Analiza Marzan of Visayas Avenue for attempted murder, physical injuries, and serious illegal detention.

Since the couple hired her in 2007, Baran said she had been wounded with a knife, struck in the head with hard objects until she bled, punched in the eyes, singed with a flat iron, and force-fed with dead cockroaches.

Baran sustained serious injuries and bruises all over her body due to alleged repeated beating and hitting. She also has deformed ear and lips, after her female employer battered it with a figurine. One of her teeth had been chipped. She had many bald spots on her scalp.

Baran's mother and sister escorted her to the PAO to file complaints as she shows injuries she suffered from years of working for her employers. She sued them for attempted murder, physical injuries, and serious illegal detention. PHOTO: Inquirer (contributed)
In her sworn affidavit, Baran cited incidents on July 2010 and June 2011 when Analiza Marzan allegedly tried to kill her. In the first incident, Analiza stabbed her in the arm with a pair of scissors while she was doing the laundry inside the toilet. Analiza tried to strangle her in the second incident while saying: "Why are you taking so long to die?"

Analiza only let go of her when Reynold intervened by asking his wife: "Do you really want to kill her? Where would you put her (body)?"

Baran also said she was detained inside the house so people would not see her. From April last year to April of this year, she was repeatedly punched in the eyes almost everyday. Her right eye is now totally blind, while the left eye is partially blind.

After she went blind, the couple then decided to let her go home. They said she was useless and could no longer be of any help. She was allowed to see her family last May but they warned her not to talk about her ordeal.

Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) Chief Atty. Persida Rueda-Acosta. said that they are planning to file eight counts of serious physical injuries and frustrated murder against the couple.

"She was treated like an animal," Acosta noted.

[with reports from Inquirer and Senate press release]