Real-Life Romeo And Juliet Tragedy Sparks Sadness Overseas
Posted November 1, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A real life tragedy out of Romeo and Juliet has resulted in the loss of one young man’s life and left his lover in critical condition. Vangelis Karras and Irini Karra both fell in love in June but their families told them they could never get married. The reason? She’s still a teenager, they’re second cousins and the union was condemned by their relatives.
So the 25-year-old Karras and his 17-year-old would-be wife Karra made a suicide pact. And earlier this week, they decided to carry it out. Both wound up in a barn in the town of Iarepetra (top left) on the island of Crete, with Vangelis making a final phone call to his shocked uncle. “We are in the barn. We are going to take poison,” he warned. “We can’t stand this anymore.”
They sadly followed through on their threat before help could arrive and authorities found Vangelis dead and his teenaged cousin in a coma. She remains in hospital in critical condition. Why didn’t the pair simply run away and elope? They weren’t able to. Under Greek law parental permission is needed for anyone under the age of 18 to be legally married.
Photo courtesy: Wikipedia
