Maldives to appeal floggling of rape victim
Source: Agencies |
March 1, 2013, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Maldivian government said yesterday it would seek to overturn a court decision to publicly flog a 15-year-old rape victim convicted of having premarital sex.
The girl was charged after police investigating a complaint that she was raped by her step-father found that she had also been having consensual sex with another man.
A spokesman for President Mohamed Waheed said he was shocked by the sentence handed down by a juvenile court, meaning the teenager would receive 100 lashes when she reaches 18.
"The president has asked the attorney general to appeal against the lower court decision," the spokesman said.
Waheed said on his Facebook page that he was "saddened" by the sentence.
Premarital sex is illegal in the popular honeymoon destination, which observes elements of Islamic Sharia law as well as English common law.
The child's stepfather faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of rape and on a murder charge, after he allegedly killed a baby which resulted from his alleged rape of his stepdaughter.
Rights groups have condemned the flogging sentence, saying she should be treated as a victim of a sexual crime. The UN has repeatedly asked the Maldives to end the "barbaric practice" of flogging women.
London-based Amnesty International has organized a public petition against the flogging and asked Waheed to commute her sentence.
"The Maldives must impose a moratorium on flogging as a form of punishment, as it is a violation of the absolute prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment," it said.
The girl was charged after police investigating a complaint that she was raped by her step-father found that she had also been having consensual sex with another man.
A spokesman for President Mohamed Waheed said he was shocked by the sentence handed down by a juvenile court, meaning the teenager would receive 100 lashes when she reaches 18.
"The president has asked the attorney general to appeal against the lower court decision," the spokesman said.
Waheed said on his Facebook page that he was "saddened" by the sentence.
Premarital sex is illegal in the popular honeymoon destination, which observes elements of Islamic Sharia law as well as English common law.
The child's stepfather faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of rape and on a murder charge, after he allegedly killed a baby which resulted from his alleged rape of his stepdaughter.
Rights groups have condemned the flogging sentence, saying she should be treated as a victim of a sexual crime. The UN has repeatedly asked the Maldives to end the "barbaric practice" of flogging women.
London-based Amnesty International has organized a public petition against the flogging and asked Waheed to commute her sentence.
"The Maldives must impose a moratorium on flogging as a form of punishment, as it is a violation of the absolute prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment," it said.
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