Man sold 14 year old daughter into marriage for cash, beer, meat
 

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/13/...ale/index.html

Article excerpt:

(CNN) -- A California man sold his 14-year-old daughter to an 18-year-old man for cash, beer and meat -- then called police when the prospective bridegroom didn't live up to his end of the deal, authorities said Tuesday.

Marcelino de Jesus Martinez, 36, of Greenfield, California, was arrested Monday and booked into the Monterey County Jail, Greenfield police said in a statement. He faces felony charges of receiving money for causing a person to cohabitate, police said.

Martinez had arranged through a third party to have his daughter marry the older teenager, identified by authorities as Margarito de Jesus Galindo, of Gonzales, California. In exchange, Galindo was to pay Martinez $16,000 and provide him with 160 cases of beer, 100 cases of soda, 50 cases of Gatorade, two cases of wine, and six cases of meat, Greenfield Police Chief Joe Grebmeier told CNN.

All those involved in the case are from the western Mexican state of Oaxaca, the police chief said. In the Oaxacan community, such an agreement is "normal and honorable," he said. "In California, it's against the law."

In Oaxacan culture, the food and beverages are provided by a prospective bridegroom for the wedding, Grebmeier said.

Weird culture.

Yes, the dowry definitely is a weird concept - surely your ancestors wouldn't have resorted to something so strange for centuries, right?

I'm sure there is a word for dowry in Oaxaca. Just bizaare.

Well, I'm sure they've done some things that today, I would think were strange. Just like there are some things in our own culture today that other cultures may think are a bit weird. I don't disagree with you though.

What I find bizarre is that the dad called the police for the guy not holding up his end of the bargain for agreeing to marry (and I'm assuming within the next couple of months since the "dowry" is supposed to be for the wedding) off his 14 year old. 14! Is that a legal age of consent in California? If not consent, to marry?

i love how you put the pararenthetical (sp?) statement in between the verb root and its preposition modifier thing.

Bwuh?

You like that? I do it all the time. :p

cool! I do sometimes too

Take a look at this link:

http://oaxacaculture.wordpress.com/2...-in-teotitlan/


This may explain in part their tradition that we may view as 'odd' or immoral.

If the dad didn't know that this type of contract was illegal in California, I'm guessing that he was equally ignorant of things like the age of consent or marriable age. (Although apparently there is no minimum age for marriage in California if you have your parents' consent. Marriage would nullify any issues about age of consent or statutory rape.)

kind of related, but a with a little more creep factor..

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/...age/index.html

8 years old? I know in middle eastern culture its normal for a guy in his 40's or 50's to take on a teenage bride but come on...