Authorities in touch with family of Roma teenager

AUTHORITIES IN Romania have contacted the family of a Roma teenager, whose remains are thought to have been found four years after her disappearance in Dublin.

A postmortem last night was expected to confirm that the remains are those of Marioara Rostas (18), who disappeared in January 2008.

Ms Rostas was last seen by her younger brother. The two had been begging at traffic lights at the junction of Lombard Street and Pearse Street in Dublin’s south inner city. Her brother reported that she had been called over to a car and got into the car willingly.

It is believed she was sexually assaulted over a number of days in a house in Pimlico before being shot dead and her body dumped. The remains were uncovered on Tuesday in an isolated area in Co Wicklow close to the Kippure estate.

Ms Rostas had been in Dublin with her extended family for less than a month when she was abducted. Her family later left Ireland.

A Romanian embassy spokesman said yesterday the ministry of the interior in Romania had been in contact with the Rostas family over the years “constantly updating them on developments”.

“When it was reported that the remains found in Wicklow were probably those of Marioara Rostas, we informed the ministry of the interior in Bucharest and they have been in contact with the family.”

Asked whether members of the Rostas family may travel to Ireland, the embassy spokesman said: “That is a possibility, yes. It is a very sensitive case. It is a tragedy to lose a child like this.”

Traveller and Roma support organisation Pavee Point said the circumstances of Ms Rostas’s disappearance and death highlighted the vulnerability and marginalisation of the Roma community here.

In particular, said Siobhán Curran, a Roma outreach worker, Roma women faced a risk of exclusion and violence. “There are State policies that we have the power to change which play a huge part in keeping Roma in poverty and on the margins.”

Ms Curran cited the fact that Roma children born here were not entitled to child benefit, while the way in which the habitual residency rules were applied made it “almost impossible” for Romas to qualify for welfare supports.