In a disturbing incident, a 14-year-old girl was reportedly trafficked by her own parents to a stranger in exchange for £4,000 and five bottles of whiskey.
Authorities in Spain have apprehended five individuals following revelations of a transaction involving the victim’s parents and another couple who sought to marry the underage girl to their son. The investigation was triggered when law enforcement officers observed the young girl soliciting for money outside a local supermarket in western Catalonia.
Local police disclosed that the teenager’s parents agreed to transfer her to the man in exchange for €5,000 (£4,418), five bottles of whiskey, and provisions, from a couple in Catalonia’s Lleida region.
According to The Olive Press, the Guardia Civil revealed that the young girl was coerced to remain with the purchasing family for a forced marriage arrangement. She was also prohibited from attending school and coerced into begging to generate income for the family.
Police initially encountered the 14-year-old outside a supermarket in Les Borges Blanques, Western Catalonia. Investigators suspect that the minor was “sold” as part of a Romani cultural custom that lacks legal recognition in Spain.
The authorities arrested the girl’s parents, aged 35, the couple who facilitated the transaction, aged 40 and 42, and their 20-year-old son who purportedly married the girl. Three of the suspects were detained on suspicion of human trafficking and were instructed not to contact the victim.
Following their detention, the suspects were released pending further inquiry, as reported by CatalanNews. It is claimed that the teenager has opted to reunite with her family and does not perceive herself as a victim of the crime.
In a separate incident, a mother was sentenced to life imprisonment for abducting and trafficking her own six-year-old child for organ harvesting. The trial in South Africa unveiled the harrowing details of how the child was sold to a traditional healer for body parts after being reported missing, leading to a nationwide search.
During the trial, witnesses testified that the mother discussed selling her children for a certain sum, with specific interest in offering the young girl to a traditional healer known as a “sangoma” for her organs. The court heard testimony from a local pastor, revealing the mother’s willingness to negotiate a lower price for the child. Despite efforts, the child’s whereabouts remain unknown, and all three perpetrators received life sentences earlier this year.
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