Five arrested for the forced marriage of a minor in exchange for 5,000 euros and five bottles of whiskey

BarcelonaFive people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the forced marriage of a 14-year-old girl, whom her parents sold for €5,000 and five bottles of whiskey. Those arrested are her parents and the buyers: the 20-year-old man she married and her parents, all three residents of Mollerussa (Pla d'Urgell). The girl disappeared in January in the town of Corella, Navarre, and after the forced marriage, she was forced to beg to provide money for the family who bought her. The Civil Guard began investigating the case following a report to Navarrese social services alerting them that the parents of a Romanian family might have sold their teenage daughter into marriage. The Civil Guard's Women and Minors Unit identified the girl's parents, a 35-year-old man and woman. The Civil Guard also located the minor in Catalonia and began coordinating with the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), the Civil Guard explained in a statement this Saturday. On Friday, October 3, the Mossos d'Esquadra received a report that a girl was begging outside a supermarket in Les Borges Blanques (Les Garrigues). Initially, the Mossos took the minor to the police station to identify her, as she was not carrying any documents, and they also confirmed that she was not enrolled in school. Sources within the force explained to ARA that the officers investigated whether the girl was begging on someone's orders. When they asked if there was an adult who could take responsibility for her, a couple arrived at the police station who introduced themselves as her aunt and uncle. However, they turned out to be her in-laws, aged 40 and 42, who had paid for her to marry their 20-year-old son.

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The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) clarified the true relationship between the girl and the couple who came to pick her up after verifying several pieces of information and finding matches with the alert issued by the Guardia Civil (Spanish Civil Guard) for the missing minor in Navarre. Investigators accessed the social media accounts of one of those involved, where he had posted photos of the wedding ceremony between the girl and the man. The images also showed the couple who had gone to the police station claiming to be the girl's aunt and uncle, but who were actually the groom's parents.

The Guardia Civil in Corella continued searching for the missing minor and investigating her forced marriage. When the Mossos made contact, they confirmed that the girl's parents had sold her in exchange for her marrying the adult son of a couple residing in Mollerussa (Pla d'Urgell). Finally, the Mossos d'Esquadra arrested the groom and his parents, and the Guardia Civil arrested the girl's parents. They all face charges for alleged crimes of child begging, human trafficking, and forced marriage. The minor has been placed under the protection of the Directorate General for the Prevention and Protection of Children and Adolescents (DGPPIA).