Couple who abused maid end up behind bars

From an air-conditioned room in the Senate where they were detained for repeatedly snubbing a hearing on their alleged abusive behavior toward their ex-maid, Analiza and Reynold Marzan are now ordinary inmates at the Quezon City Jail. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

The couple accused of locking up their maid and subjecting her to abuse for years until she went blind ended up behind bars Thursday—although in different facilities—despite a last-ditch appeal by their lawyer for what the prosecutor described as “special treatment.”

At 3 p.m. Thursday, Analiza and Reynold Marzan were brought by officers of the Senate sergeant-at-arms to the Quezon City Jail female dormitory in Camp Karingal, Barangay Sikatuna Village.

With one arm wrapped around his wife’s shoulder, Reynold accompanied Analiza inside the compound. At one time, he was spotted rubbing her back as if to console her.

After almost an hour, he emerged alone and was taken by his escorts to the city jail male dormitory in Kamuning where he was met by Inspector Jose Radam of the records section for processing.

City jail warden Superintendent Jose Vela said Reynold would undergo a medical examination before he is assigned to a cell.

But even before the couple showed up at the facility, the female inmates had apparently gotten wind of news of their arrival with some of them shouting laughingly to reporters who were gathered outside: “We’re ready with our flat irons!”

The couple’s former maid, Bonita Baran, had accused Analiza of burning her face with a flat iron, among other abuses.

Earlier, the couple’s lawyer asked Judge Germano Francisco Legaspi of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 77 to allow his clients to be detained at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) instead of the Quezon City Jail.

In his four-page “extremely urgent” motion, Jose Ferrer cited the state of health of Analiza who, according to him, was suffering from kidney disease. He also said it would be very inconvenient for the Marzan children to visit their parents should the couple end up in different facilities.

But during Thursday’s hearing to resolve the Marzans’ petition, assistant city prosecutor Ulric Badiola pointed out that the NBI is not the regular detention facility for those facing charges as he described the request as an appeal for “special treatment.”

He also noted that the defense did not present any evidence to prove Analiza’s supposed kidney ailment.