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The mother of Maria Balogh, Mariska, grieved at her daughter’s funeral yesterday. Balogh was killed Monday. (Bela Szandelszky/Associated Press) |
Victim of attack on Gypsies buried
KISLETA, Hungary - Hundreds of people gathered yesterday to pay their respects at the funeral of a 45-year-old woman, the sixth fatality in a series of attacks against Gypsies in Hungary.
Police say the attacks are linked and may have been committed by the same small group. They also said weapons used in Monday’s shooting of Maria Balogh and her 13-year-old daughter in their home in Kisleta, a small village in eastern Hungary, had been used in at least two previous attacks. The daughter was hospitalized.
Police have 100 officers working on the crimes, the first of which took place in July 2008, and this week doubled the reward for information to $525,000.
The attacks have usually been carried out at homes at the edge of small villages near highways providing a quick escape route.
Balogh and her daughter were attacked before dawn and were discovered hours later when Balogh’s sister came to pick them up for work at a tobacco farm.
Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai expressed his condolences to the family and said the killers had attacked the Hungarian nation.
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