Maria Mystery: Roma Couple Due In Court

Written By Unknown on Senin, 21 Oktober 2013 | 14.43

A Roma couple accused of abducting a blonde, blue-eyed girl are due to appear in court later.

The youngster was discovered living in a Gypsy camp near the Greek town of Farsala on Wednesday after a raid by police who were looking for drugs and weapons.

A prosecutor who accompanied police on the raid thought it odd that the girl, known as Maria, did not look like her darker-skinned "parents".

Maria A bedroom in the Roma house where Maria was found

DNA tests confirmed the couple are not the girl's biological parents, and Greek authorities have put out a worldwide appeal to help identify the four-year-old and find her real family.

As Maria is being cared for in Athens by the charity Smile Of The Child, the Roma community in Farsala is said to be anxious about the attention the case is attracting.

Maria The alarm was raised when a prosecutor spotted a blonde child in the house

In a country already devastated by economic crisis, the Roma in the camp make a living selling fruit, carpets, blankets, baskets and shoes at local markets.

They are already considered by some to be social outcasts, thieves and beggars, and now they are worried they will be wrongfully stigmatised as kidnappers and child traffickers.

Ben NeedhamBen Needham digital portrait Ben Needham before he went missing in 1991 and how he might look today

The president of the local Roma community, Babis Dimitriou, said he hoped there would not be a backlash following Maria's discovery.

"There are no transactions involving children here," he said, adding that the couple cared for the little girl "even better than for their own children".

GREECE-CHILDREN-POLICE-ROMA Roma stand next to the house where Maria lived in Farsala, central Greece

The Roma in Farsala insist their community is not involved in abductions or trafficking.

But police say they are aware of "dozens" of such cases involving Bulgarian Roma in Greece.

Lieutenant General Vassilis Halatsis said: "We know these cases exist, but they involve Bulgarians, not Greeks like us."

GREECE-CHILDREN-POLICE-ROMA The Roma community in the town number about 2,000

Local resident Christos Lioupis said: "After this event, the police have been searching everyone. Isn't this racist?"

Meanwhile, South Yorkshire Police have said there appears to be "no direct correlation" between the discovery of Maria and the disappearance of British boy Ben Needham, who was 21 months old when he went missing on the Greek island of Kos in 1991.

GREECE-CHILDREN-POLICE-ROMA The community insists they are not child-traffickers or kidnappers

The force said: "The case of Ben Needham continues to be investigated by the Greek authorities and South Yorkshire Police continues to support his family."


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