Maid in maltreatment case has right eye removed in operation

Bonita Baran. File Photo taken from senate.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines—The househelp who accused her employers of maltreating her had her right eye removed before Christmas, her doctor said.

Dr. Federico Aranzamendez said the contents of the right eye of Bonita Baran have been removed and that an implant was inserted to maintain the shape of an eyeball plus a conformer for protection.

“We will soon put eye prosthesis (artificial eye) on her right eye,” Aransamendez told INQUIRER.net over the phone.

The doctor said they had to remove her right eye because there were already dead tissues causing her pain and discomfort.

“There is also danger that it might cause some effect to her left eye,” he said.

However, he said that Baran’s left eye is also damaged because Baran can no longer see images but “just light.”

He said trauma may have caused the damage to Baran’s eye.

Baran, through the Public Attorney’s Office, has filed maltreatment case against her former employers Reynold and Anna Liza Marzan. The case is pending before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.

The Marzan couple has been accused of conspiring to unlawfully detain Baran inside their home from June 2009 to May 2012.

The alleged maltreatment ranged from strangling her neck, burning her nose with a hot iron and pouring cold water or bleach on her burns and wounds.

Annaliza would allegedly punch Baran’s eyes, which eventually caused blindness in the right eye and dimming sight in the other.

The Marzans allegedly prevented her from leaving the house and even locked her up inside a dark toilet.

She was hired by the couple in 2007. Annaliza allegedly began maltreating her in April 2008.