In a disturbing incident, a 14-year-old girl was reportedly handed over by her parents to a stranger in exchange for £4,000 and five bottles of whiskey. The Spanish police have taken five individuals into custody following the alleged transaction involving the teenager’s parents and another couple seeking to marry her off to their son.
The authorities uncovered the shocking ordeal when they found the teenage girl soliciting outside a supermarket in western Catalonia. The girl’s parents agreed to the arrangement and received €5,000 (£4,418), along with whiskey and provisions, from a couple in Catalonia’s Lleida region.
According to The Olive Press, the Guardia Civil stated that the young girl was under the control of the acquiring family for the purpose of a forced marriage. She was deprived of education and compelled to beg for money to benefit the family.
Law enforcement officers initially encountered the girl outside a store in Les Borges Blanques, Western Catalonia. Investigations suggest that the minor was “sold” under a cultural practice without legal standing in Spain, believed to be associated with the Romani community.
The suspects apprehended in connection with this case include the girl’s parents, aged 35, the couple who purportedly purchased her, aged 40 and 42, and their 20-year-old son, who allegedly wed the girl. Three of the detainees were held on suspicion of human trafficking and were prohibited from contacting the girl.
After being released pending further inquiries, as reported by CatalanNews, it was stated that the teenager decided to reunite with her family and did not consider herself a victim of the situation. This incident follows a separate case where a mother was sentenced for kidnapping and trafficking her own child in South Africa.