Posted by Ahem on May 12, 2001 at 07:03:56:
Court holds that Eloping No Crime if Love Blossoms
Updated: Fri, May 11 06:49 AM EDT
ROME (Reuters) - Eloping, even if the couple is underage, is not a crime if it leads to true love, a court in the Sicilian capital Palermo ruled Thursday.
In southern Italy, where premarital relationships are frowned upon, the traditional "fuitina" (one night eloping trip) is seen as the only way to get parents to accept a relationship -- by presenting them with a done deed.
Sometimes parents of an underage girl who has taken part in a "fuitina" take her lover to court accusing him of kidnapping and sexual abuse.
The Palermo court ruled that, in the case in question, the "fuitina" was legal because the relationship developed into a stable one producing two children.