Girl, 12, may have gone missing with 'husband'

Gardaí appealed today for members of the Romanian community to help trace a missing 12-year-old Roma “child bride”.

The last reported sighting of Pansela Demitru, who was living in health board care in Tallaght, was 11-weeks ago.

It is believed the girl may have went missing with a “husband” of around the same age from within the Romanian community in Ireland.

A Garda spokesman said: “We are appealing to the Romanian community to let us know if she is safe as anyone of that age missing is a high category of risk.

“She has no relatives in Ireland as far as we know.”

The international police agency Interpol is involved in the major missing person probe.

Gardaí hoping to close the case are looking for any information or to speak with the girl to ensure she is safe.

It is assumed that the child has now left the country.

A spokesman for the Roma Support Group in Ireland said there are around 3,000 people living in different areas.

Immigration authorities were alerted when the 12-year-old arrived in Ireland by herself last year.

She had been living in health board care in Tallaght for around a year before she went missing.

It is believed that a person claimed to be a family member after her arrival but a DNA test revealed they were not related.

The support group said child marriages have been a common traditional custom among the Roma community for over a thousand years.

Pansela, also known Aurelia, is missing since Saturday morning, May 15 last.

She was last seen on Caledon Road, East Wall, Dublin 3 at around 1.30pm and it is believed she took a taxi back out to Tallaght and left a friend there.

She was seen around the Tallaght area between 3pm and 4pm.

Gardaí are looking to speak to taxi drivers who may have taken Pansela and a friend to or from Caledon Road.

Pansela is described as 5 feet tall with long brown hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion, when last seen she was a wearing a grey skirt and a blue shirt.

Another 12-year-old Roma child bride Violeta Rastas is believed to have travelled back to her native country from Ireland earlier this year with her 18-year-old husband.

Gardaí launched a missing persons probe after Violeta went missing from Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Dublin’s Crumlin where she had been placed for protection.

She went missing with her husband, whom it is believed she had wed in an arranged marriage in Romania.