By DPA,
San Francisco : A Mexican man living in California has been jailed after allegedly selling his 14-year-old daughter for marriage in exchange for cash, beer and meat and then calling the police when the groom failed to honour the deal, officials said.
The arrest occurred in the central California town of Greenfield, about 225 km south of San Francisco. The town is home to many immigrants from Oaxaca, Mexico, and the case represented a clash between California law and the traditional culture of the immigrants, according to the local paper, the Salinas Californian, Tuesday.
Marcelino de Jesus Martinez, 36, was apparently unaware of any problems when he sold his daughter to Margarito de Jesus Galindo, 18, in exchange for $16,000, 160 cases of beer, 100 cases of soda, 50 cases of Gatorade, two cases of wine and six cases of meat, according to Greenfield police.
“The 14-year-old juvenile moved in with Galindo, and when payments were not received, the father, Martinez, called Greenfield PD to bring back the daughter,” according to a police statement.
After an investigation, the girl was returned to her parents, but the father was jailed on charges of receiving money for causing a person to cohabitate. The 18-year-old was charged with statutory rape.