Alex Trelinski
THE parents of a 22-year-old Alicante woman have been arrested for allegedly setting up an arranged marriage and accepting a €1,000 fee for it.
The daughter ran off a day before the ceremony, but was found and forced to endure assaults which resulted in her having a tooth bashed out.
The Moroccan family arranged the union with her cousin, 40, who was also detained by the Policia Nacional along with his mother.
READ MORE:
- Two girls given refuge after suffering domestic abuse and threat of arranged marriage in Spain’s Valencia
- Police stop woman being forced into arranged marriage in Spain’s Valencia
- Two sisters in Spain’s Barcelona in ‘safe houses’ after refusing arranged marriages in Bangladesh
The daughter’s parents did not want her to have any relationship with people from a Western background, according to the police investigation.
She was said to be in a vulnerable situation and suffered physical and psychological abuse from her family for years.
The victim told police that since she was a child, she endured issues with her parents, who attacked her if she did something wrong or if they considered that she had behaved badly.
She was not allowed to interact with anybody and the only thing her family wanted was for her to ‘fulfil her obligations’ and stay at home.
Last September, despite her opposition, her parents agreed a deal with her aunt to marry her cousin- 18 years older than her- in exchange for €1,000.
A visit was made to the Moroccan consulate in Valencia in December to process all the necessary documentation.
Despite the extreme pressure, the woman ran off from home to avoid the wedding, but was found by her parents, who subjected her to more abuse.
She did not give up and escaped again- this time going to a specialist centre for abused women where she filed a criminal complaint.
Her family have been charged with human trafficking for the purpose of a forced marriage, as well as committing injuries and domestic violence.
