Married at the tender age of 13

The gipsy mother who forced her daughter of 13 to marry a 14-year-old boy yesterday dismissed British values as irrelevant to her.

Renata Gural the mother of the child said she was unconcerned by the outrage over the teenagers' Romany wedding ceremony at a pub in East London. Mrs Gural, 31, "I'm not bothered what anyone thinks. I'll be the one who decides if my daughter is old enough to marry. I got married when I was 14 in such a ceremony and it hasn't done me any harm.

"Just because I live in Britain doesn't mean I've got to behave the way you lot think is right. I'll live my life the way I want and that includes the way I bring up my kids.I don't care what the neighbours think, or social services. It's not my problem people around here don't understand our culture and values."

Bozena the child bride said she was "really happy" with married life, adding: "For the first time in my life I feel like a proper grown-up. "Before I was just a little girl and then suddenly there I was - married. That's every girl's dream isn't it?"

Bozena continues to share a cramped two-bedroom terraced house in East Ham. Bezo wants his young bride Bozena to move in with him and his parents two miles away in Manor Park. But she wants to stay at home, saying she would miss her mother if she left. Her mother insisted the young couple had not consummated the marriage and that she will not allow her daughter to have sex until she is 18.

Their marriage is not recognised under British law, but there are fears that similar underground ceremonies could become common as the number of gypsies in Britain rises following the eastwards expansion of the EU.

Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Nicholson, a long-time campaigner against child weddings, claimed the young couple would "be scarred for life" by the experience.

There are estimated to be nearly 100,000 Romanians in Britain, although no figures are available for how many have arrived from Eastern Europe. For centuries they have encouraged their children to marry young.

Have your say on this article and tell us what you think...Should people follow their own culture when living in the UK?

Released on Monday 12th May 2008

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