Guardia Civil arrested three people in Seville for the alleged sale of a minor for an arranged marriage. Those arrested were the mother of the minor and the parents of her ‘husband’, who agreed to the €3000 transaction.
The investigation began on January 8 when police became aware, through a teacher, that a young girl had contacted her to let her know she had been forced to marry. Police said that the teacher contacted Guardia Civil to say that a former pupil of hers of Romanian nationality had contacted her through the Messenger app to say that she was in Seville and “that she had been made to accept a marriage agreed upon by her mother.”
The minor began to exchange messages with the teacher, who was already in contact with the Guardia Civil, in order to organize a daring escape from her husband’s family home, in Villaverde del Río (Seville). The girl was able to leave the house between 4am and 5am and was picked up at a prearranged spot nearby before being transferred to a juvenile centre by judicial police.
After the preliminary investigation and an interview with the girl, all indications pointed to the celebration of a forced marriage of the girl, from Zamora in Castilla y Leon, with another minor from Seville.
When the girl escaped, her mother, who had agreed to the marriage, travelled from Valladolid to Seville in order to find her and return her to the in-laws. However, the 37 year old mother was located and arrested. The boy’s parents, who are alleged to have paid €3000 for the girl, were also arrested.