Venezuelan rape victim still needs $$ to save her eye

A fundraising drive for surgery to save the right eye of a Venezuelan rape victim has raised only about 40 per cent of the goal so far.

The main organiser, Liuzka Herrera, told Newsday, "Doctors said she could lose the eye and we (relatives and friends) are looking at other options. She needs eye surgery. It may have to be done abroad."

She only gave a percentage of the goal and not a figure. But based on the GoFundMe page (http://gf.me/u/yrf6t7), of $25,000 goal, $12,164 had been raised by Friday.

The victim, 18, was recently discharged from the San Fernando General Hospital.

Speaking on behalf of the family, Herrera said by phone on Friday, "She is now in a safe place.

"She has to attend clinics regularly. We do not have a car, so we have to pay for transport every time.

"She needs psychological help. She has other injuries that require other surgeries,"

On August 11, the victim got into a PH taxi at Fyzabad and asked to be taken to San Fernando. She was going to sell empanadas.

One the way, she was kidnapped, beaten, raped and stabbed multiple times by three men. They then dumped her in a bushy area off the M2 Ring Road in La Romaine.

SRP Akini Rodriguez, 26, of Debe, Long Circular, St James, and Aaron Ramkissoon, 20, a security guard from Waterhole, Cocorite, were charged with rape and attempted murder. A San Fernando magistrate denied them bail.

People willing to help the victim can visit the Instagram page @todossomosstefani or the GoFundMe page.