Breaking An Engagement

Sadly, part of the reason why girls are either promised and end up marrying at such a young age in the Romanian gypsy culture is because husbands want to be sure that their brides-to-be are still virgins. Plus this also means that the dowry that the family of the bride receives will also be an impressive one. Therefore, if the bride is no longer a virgin, the engagement is immediately broken.

Fighting With Her Family

According to Rifca, her eloping with Ionel caused their families to fight all the time. She shares, “Before that, there was a lot of fighting – once my father had even attacked my husband with a knife. He wanted him to pay 500,000 Lei, which is approximately a little less than $130,000 in compensation. My family even took me home but after three days I ran away again to be with him [Ionel].”