Police rescue 13-year-old girl sold for marriage
Minor forced to come to Italy, abused
13 August, 15:18
(ANSA) - Venice, August 13 - Italian police on Monday took a
13-year-old girl into protective custody after the family she
was allegedly sold to abused her.The girl told Venice police that she was sold by her family for 3,000 euros while still living in her home in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and then brought to Italy to the 17-year-old she was meant to marry by his mother.
Once in Italy, the girl told police she tried to rebel against the arrangement but was sexually and physically abused. According to the girl, her mother at one point held her down while her son "performed his duty", raping the girl.
For her attempts to escape, she was punished by being placed in a tub full of water and having her legs burned with electric wire, she said.
Police began investigating the case after some local residents reported seeing a girl whose face was covered with bruises asking for help.
The girl was taken to hospital where doctors treated her for traumas and burns.
Police detained 17-year-old "husband" and his mother, who had fled to Naples.
Commenting on the abuse, Gianfranco Bettin, Venice's local councilor for youth policies, said: "No archaic tradition can motivate a crime." Bettin also praised the young girls' courage in seeking help.
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