Dispute over mom's age
Source: Agencies |
November 10, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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THE former neighbors of a Romanian girl who gave birth last week in Spain claim she is significantly older than 10.
Neighbors outside the shabby four-story apartment building where the girl spent her early years before moving to Spain said yesterday they were indignant about "lies" that she was just 10 years old when she became a mother.
Ionel Mutu, a 43-year-old plasterer, was among several residents of Bucharest's impoverished Ferentari district who said they believed the girl was between age 13 and 15.
"This is a lie," Mutu said, referring to media reports. "I knew the family, and they moved to Spain in the late 1990s with the girl, and she must be about 14 now."
The reported birth has shocked Spaniards and created an international sensation, although in Romania it has barely registered. In Spain, the Andalusian regional health ministry had told reporters the new mother was 10 years old, but it was not clear what documents that was based on.
The girl's mother said in Spain last week that she's delighted to have a new granddaughter and doesn't understand the fuss the birth has caused. She said the baby's father was a 13-year-old boy who was still in Romania.
She also said since they are Romanian Gypsies, or Roma, it is their custom to marry very young.
But former Roma neighbors claimed the mother was exaggerating or lying.
Neighbors outside the shabby four-story apartment building where the girl spent her early years before moving to Spain said yesterday they were indignant about "lies" that she was just 10 years old when she became a mother.
Ionel Mutu, a 43-year-old plasterer, was among several residents of Bucharest's impoverished Ferentari district who said they believed the girl was between age 13 and 15.
"This is a lie," Mutu said, referring to media reports. "I knew the family, and they moved to Spain in the late 1990s with the girl, and she must be about 14 now."
The reported birth has shocked Spaniards and created an international sensation, although in Romania it has barely registered. In Spain, the Andalusian regional health ministry had told reporters the new mother was 10 years old, but it was not clear what documents that was based on.
The girl's mother said in Spain last week that she's delighted to have a new granddaughter and doesn't understand the fuss the birth has caused. She said the baby's father was a 13-year-old boy who was still in Romania.
She also said since they are Romanian Gypsies, or Roma, it is their custom to marry very young.
But former Roma neighbors claimed the mother was exaggerating or lying.
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