PARIS — French police have been on Sunday probing the circumstances of a weird stunt at Disneyland exterior of Paris, with a gaggle of adults suspected of hiring the theme park and paying a whole bunch of extras to stage a pretend marriage for a nine-year-old Ukrainian woman.
Two individuals have been held for questioning within the case, which initially triggered alarm when employees alerted police on Saturday that it might have involved an unlawful youngster marriage.
However investigators now imagine that the so-called “marriage” was staged, with the woman’s mom reportedly saying that she needed her to really feel like a Disney “princess” for the day.
“The occasion turned out to be a staged occasion, with the friends themselves extras” invited to be a part of the stunt, deputy prosecutor Alexandre Verney mentioned.
“So it wasn’t a marriage, however a staged marriage ceremony filmed with round 100 extras. They employed Disneyland Paris, pretending it was an actual marriage ceremony,” he informed AFP.
4 individuals have been arrested and brought into custody, and the questioning of two of them—suspected of fraud and cash laundering—was prolonged on Saturday night.
They’re the so-called “groom” who’s believed to be behind the occasion, 22 years outdated and “presumed to be British,” and a Latvian girl, 24, mentioned a supply near the case.
Nonetheless, the opposite two individuals detained—a 41-year-old Ukrainian girl, and a 55-year-old Latvian man—have been launched.
The investigations, together with a medical examination of the nine-year-old woman, a Ukrainian nationwide, discovered that “she had not been subjected to any violence or coercive acts,” the prosecutor’s workplace mentioned.
Based on the Le Parisien day by day, which first reported the incident, a person had a number of weeks beforehand employed the Disneyland Paris advanced for a sum of €130,000 ($150,000) for a number of hours earlier than it opened to the general public.
Employees have been astonished when the nine-year-old appeared sporting excessive heels on Saturday morning, barely in a position to stand within the elaborate footwear, and so they alerted the authorities, it mentioned.
The paper mentioned the person who organized the occasion had submitted false paperwork regarding his identification and Disneyland filed a criticism.
A whole bunch of extras have been bussed in to play the a part of the friends, it mentioned, whereas the woman’s mom informed investigators she needed to prepare a “day worthy of a princess” for her daughter. — Agence France-Presse