A MOROCCAN girl who was reportedly kidnapped by her family has refused to testify against them, a Barcelona court revealed yesterday. The young woman, who was described as sitting in court in tight jeans and a baseball cap – in contrast to her mother’s traditional dress – was allegedly held under lock and key to prevent her from running away with her Spanish boyfriend back in 2006. Fátima B’s parents were against her having a relationship with a Spaniard, rather than a boy of her own nationality. She finally escaped after a week when she said she would have to sign for redundancy money from her job as a barmaid in the tennis club in Castelldefels (Barcelona). Her parents had prevented her from going to work, a judge heard. They are said to have forced her into a car and taken her home, locking her in her bedroom, after she had been away from home for a few days. She is thought to have bombarded a customer at the bar whom she had known for years with text messages, telling him to call the police. He said he received around 20 messages from her. At the end of 2006, before the kidnap, the court heard that she was then sent to Morocco and forced into an arranged marriage with her cousin. But her brother (pictured) insists that during the week she was allegedly held, she ‘had all the freedom in the world’. He says they did not forbid her from leaving the house, but ‘suggested she stay because she would have everything she needed there’. The family also says she married her cousin voluntarily, travelling alone by air to Morocco. Fátima has been living in a women’s shelter and has not seen her family since the kidnap. Prosecutors called for five years in jail for her parents for false imprisonment, but the case has been suspended in light of the girl’s refusal to give evidence. “I don’t want to testify. It’s just that I was very upset when the police arrived to let me out,” Fátima told judges after deliberating in silence for a few moments.
A MAN declared dead at his home in the province of Tarragona was on his way to the funeral parlour when he turned out to be alive, according to police sources.
A NEW child protection law named after a British musician living in Spain has been approved in Congress and is set to be signed off by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, June 8.
