Jozef was a Rom, not Romeo.  Maria was not Roma; she was a white girl, just like Juliet.   They met in Slovakia, where romantic relationships between Roma and non-Roma were dangerous due to the pervasive racism on the part of the white majority.  She was in her last year of high school, still a teenager and he was not yet 20 year old.

When they met he told Maria that he is a gypsy.  But, despite the probability that her family will disapprove, she wanted to see him again.  They started to meet, but kept their relationship a secret, as they knew that their families, especially hers, would strenuously disapprove.  Their clandestine meetings went on for about a year, when one day they met her brother with a group of his friends.

These friends knew that Jozef was a Rom as they went to school with him.  The white boys started to yell at Maria that she is with a dirty gypsy, and proceeded to attack Jozef by hitting and kicking him. Eventually, as Maria shouted at them to stop, Jozef managed to get away from them.  If you recall, Romeo also runs into Juliet's brother, Mercutio, and they had a fight.  But unlike in Romeo and Juliet, Maria's brother did not come to any harm.  Instead, he told his parents that Maria is going out with a Roma boy.  As Maria expected, her parents went ballistic, far beyond disapproval.  Her father beat her up and told her that she is not to see Jozef again.  And they took her phone away.