Central & South Asia

Maldives to challenge child flogging verdict

President's office expresses outrage at court decision to punish minor rape victim convicted of having premarital sex.
Last Modified: 28 Feb 2013 12:58
President Mohamed Waheed is "shocked" by a court ruling that a teenage rape victim should receive 100 lashes [EPA]

The Maldivian government will appeal against a court decision to publicly flog a 15-year-old rape victim
convicted of having premarital sex.

The unidentified girl was charged after police investigations into a complaint that her step-father raped her found she had consensual sex with another man.

The juvenile court's decision to flog the girl sparked outrage, with human rights groups condemning the ruling.

A spokesman for President Mohamed Waheed said on Thursday he is "shocked" at the ruling that the teenager would receive 100 lashes when she reaches 18 and  will seek to reverse the decision.

"The girl will also be provided with the necessary legal counsel and we hope the case will be concluded in about a month," spokesman Abbas Adil Riza told AFP.

124
Source:
AFP
Topics in this article
People
Country
Organisation
Featured on Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera's exclusive publishing of a key Guantanamo prison military document lays bare the brutality of force-feeding.
Former military official says poverty and anger in indigenous communities mean conditions for an "insurgency" are ripe.
A four-part series that gives a rare insight into the country on the move, with history in tow.
Series on the Palestinian 'catastrophe' of 1948 that led to dispossession and conflict that still endures.
Featured
Syria: The War Within
Two years since the start of the uprising, rebels and Assad's forces remain locked in conflict.
China Rising
A four-part series that gives a rare insight into the country on the move, with history in tow.
Iran Elections
News and analysis of 2013 presidential contest as Ahmadinejad finishes second term.
Crisis in Bangladesh
Extensive coverage of war crimes tribunals and controversial calls for blasphemy laws.
Al-Nakba
Series on the Palestinian 'catastrophe' of 1948 that led to dispossession and conflict that still endures.
join our mailing list