From NBC/Washington:
A 36-year-old California man was arrested and booked in the Monterey County jail after allegedly selling his daughter for marriage and then calling police to complain that her buyer had not paid off his debt.
Greenfield, Calif., police said Marcelino de Jesus Martinez, 36, tried to arrange for his 14-year-old daughter to marry Margarito de Jesus Galindo, 18, for $16,000 and 100 cases of beer, along with several cases of meat and other items.
After the girl moved in with Galindo, Martinez called police to complain that he hadn't been paid. Police said he asked for their help getting his daughter back.
Martinez's daughter did return home, but he was arrested and booked on suspicion of bartering her –– "receiving money for causing person to cohabitate."
Galindo, the intended buyer/groom, was booked on suspicion of statutory rape, police said.
Police said the practice of arranged marriage in some cultures is not relevant in the case, and even if it were, California law doesn't go for it when one or both parties have been coerced.
Sir Bowie "all the news unfit to print" of Greenbriar
Ah I wondered what that "Bowie For Sale, please contact Suzi with any reasonable offer, or will take case of Beer" , I saw on Ebay
ReplyDeletelast night...
oh in that case i'll withdraw my bid then.. saved myself $5 bucks..
Sir Dayvd ( always on the lookout for a bargain ) of Ox
That's a piss poor dowry! What happened to the good ole' days of selling your daughter for acres of land, thousands of warriors, a room full of gold and one hell of a party before you tried to kill each other about a decade later?
ReplyDeleteNow, I wouldn't dare think of selling Maegan, especially that cheap...but if her in-laws wanted to give me $16,000 cash and 100 cases of beer after the wedding, who am I to turn down such a generous offer? After all, I'll be paying for the damn wedding!
Marcelino's problem, besides bad taste, was not to collect his dowry from Margarito before he handed over his daughter...that's just good business.
I'm also intrigued that both of them have middle names which mean "of Jesus". Jesus of Man's Desiring was no doubt playing in the background during this deal!
Sir Hook the Dowry King of Warrick