Updated On: 05 September, 2012 07:12 AM IST | | Agencies
A court in Maldives has ordered a public flogging for a 16-year-old girl who confessed to having pre-marital sex, in a ruling that on Tuesday triggered widespread criticism from rightsgroups.
The unnamed teenager was convicted on her confession under sharia law after her family complained she had sex with a 29-year-old man in July.
The man was given 10 years in jail during a court hearing on the remote Raa atoll on Sunday. A court official said the girl could refuse the flogging and would then instead be subjected only to eight months house arrest.