The case of the alleged forced marriage of a 14-year-old girl has been dismissed and the accused have been released.
The young woman, who has returned to Navarre with her parents, denies the allegations and says her stay in Lleida was voluntary.
BarcelonaThe judge investigating the alleged "sale" of a 14-year-old girl from Navarre to force her into marriage with a young man from Lleida has provisionally closed the case. The decision comes after the minor declared that her stay in Catalonia was voluntary, as confirmed to EFE by sources close to the investigation. The judge considered the girl's testimony more relevant than the other evidence, and the five detainees—the girl's parents, the 21-year-old man to whom she was allegedly married, and his parents—were released. The girl has already returned to Navarre with her parents. The Civil Guard arrested the girl's parents in Navarre, and the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) arrested the alleged buyers in Mollerussa. The first two were brought before the court in Tudela, and the other three before the court of first instance and preliminary investigation in Lleida for the alleged crimes of human trafficking for the purpose of forced marriage and child begging. Sources close to the investigation indicated that the minor testified in court that she was living in Lleida of her own free will and denied being forced into marriage or begging. According to the Civil Guard, the union was performed following a pilgrimage ritual, which has no legal validity unless formalized legally according to civil or religious law recognized by the State. The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) also have information about the celebration held months earlier for the wedding. These types of ceremonies are purely cultural, have no legal effect, and are only valid between consenting adults. For the police, the case fits the pattern of human trafficking for the purpose of forced marriage, considering her age (at 14, there can be no consent to marriage), the transfer between regions, the financial exchange for the alleged wedding, and the potential for exploitation.
Since there was already an open case in Navarre with two detainees (the girl's parents), the Lleida court recused itself and only issued a protection and incommunicado order for the three remaining detainees, as reported this Sunday by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC). The provisional dismissal does not mean there is no crime, but rather that, for the moment, there is insufficient evidence to continue the criminal investigation.
She no longer lives in Catalonia
The case came to light when the Civil Guard arrested the girl's parents in Navarre for "selling" her for 5,000 euros, five bottles of whiskey, and food to a couple from Mollerussa, who were also arrested along with their 20-year-old son, the alleged husband. According to the Civil Guard, the girl was not enrolled in school and had been forced to beg to bring money to the family who had "bought" her. Months later, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) located her begging outside a shopping center in Les Borges Blanques and took her to the police station to determine if she was in a situation of neglect or being coerced. The girl asked them to contact her aunt and uncle, but when they couldn't prove their relationship, the officers arrested the couple and their son. Currently, the minor is no longer under the protection of the administration: she left the children's protection center during the first week of November and, since then, no longer lives in Catalonia.