Maid: Employers beat me, locked me up on my birthday

MANILA, Philippines - Housemaid Bonita Baran testified yesterday that one of the “memorable” incidents in the abuse she reportedly endured at the hands of her former employers was that she was beaten and locked up in a storage room on her birthday earlier this year.

During a continuation of the hearings on the petition for bail filed by Reynold and Anna Liza Marzan, Baran told Judge Germano Legaspi of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 77 that her employers started beating her and locking her up in 2009.

The Marzans face charges of serious illegal detention, seven counts of serious physical injuries and two counts of attempted homicide in separate courts.

She said Anna Liza put her in a storage room measuring only one square meter from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. during her birthday last March 27. She said her employer dragged her into the room when someone rang the doorbell of their house in Las Villas Del Cinco in Quezon City.

“Other people would see my injuries, that’s why Anna Liza detained me inside the storage room,” said Baran, adding that she was also detained several times in a room and a bathroom.

She said Anna Liza would punch her in the eyes and sometimes strike her with a dumbbell. The abuse left her partially blind.

Baran also told the judge about an incident when Reynold tried to stop his wife from strangling her by asking her where she would dump Baran’s body if she dies.

The housemaid is expected to continue with her testimony and under cross-examination when the hearings continue on Friday.

The couple, who earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges against them, refused to comment on Baran’s testimony.