A Maldivian
court has ordered 100 lashes and eight months' house arrest for a 16-year-old
girl convicted of having sex with an older man, a report said Monday.
She
'confessed' to having sex with the 29-year-old after her family pressed
charges.
The man was
found guilty of having sex with a minor and sentenced on Sunday to 10 years in
jail, the private Minivan News reported.
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| Paradise island: The Maldives is better known as a stunning holiday destination than for its draconian laws |
The pair
were found having intercourse in the Raa atoll, about 200 kilometres (125
miles) north of the capital island Male, the report said, adding that the girl
would be flogged when she reaches adulthood.
'As she is
legally a minor, the court stated that the girl's sentence would be implemented
when she turned 18,' Minivan News said.
More...
It was not
immediately clear when the couple had sex.
The court
ruling came 10 months after UN Human Rights chief Navi Pillay urged the
Maldives to stop publicly flogging women for having extra-marital sex.
Pillay
noted during a visit to the country that the Maldives had progressed in
safeguarding the rights of its 330,000 Sunni Muslims, but more needed to be
done to protect women.
Flogging is
normally handed down as a punishment by village chiefs who also act as local
judges. A cane is used.
The
Maldives, better known as a luxury tourist destination, adopted multi-party
democracy in 2008, but faced political unrest leading to the resignation of the
first elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, in February.
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