A singer has caused controversy by live streaming himself singing at the gypsy wedding of an eight-year-old girl to a 10-year-old boy.
The bizarre incident occurred at a wedding in the city of Craiova, South-western Romania’s Dolj County where the singer, named as Alex de la Caracal, was asked to perform.
In the video, the singer can be seen performing as a crowd gathers around the bride, reportedly eight years old, and they can be seen putting the finishing touches on her outfit.
Video Credit: CEN/@Maneleoficial
The groom, reportedly 10 years old, can be seen dancing along to Alex’s folk music.
The bride’s pink dress is comically oversized and seems more suited to an adult woman rather than a young girl.
The singer continues performing with a smile on is face throughout the video.
Marriages between minors are illegal in Romania and self-proclaimed Roma community leader, Dorin Cioaba, announced four years ago that the gypsies who marry their underage children would be handed to the police.
There has been no reaction from the Gypsy community or from the authorities regarding the incident.
Netizen ‘DonVochin’ claimed that the event in the video was not a real wedding but a ritual ceremony in which the two children agree that they are promised to each other. The social media user says the official wedding will take place when the youngsters are older.
In 2011, a similar event took place in the county of Galati, in the eastern Romanian region of Moldavia. The ‘couple’ getting married then were aged 8 and 7 and the ‘wedding’ attracted the attention of the authorities. After an investigation, the authorities said that there was no action to be taken as the ‘marriage’ was not legally registered at the town hall.
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Story By: Gabriel Zamfir, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
