The police are searching for two teenage girls, who were saved from being married off for cash and placed in care, because they have since run away.

The two Romanian girls, who are cousins aged 13 and 15, lived in Almuñécar with their parents until March when the parents lost custody of them when it became known that the parents had the intention of marrying them off against their will in order to obtain a dowry.

The girls were immediately taken into care by the Junta de Andalucia and given a temporary home in the Centro Bermúdez de Castro centre in Granada. However on the 30th of October they ran away, given that it is an open centre; i.e., the minors are free to come and go during the day.

The police are trying to locate them for their own good – they are also the main witnesses in the court case against their parents. All four parents are out on bail pending trial.

Apparently, since their disappearance they have contacted the centre asking the authorities not to search for them, claiming that they are safe and well.

(News: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)