The Maldives government has said its hands are tied in the case of a 15-year-old girl sentenced to 100 lashes and eight months house arrest for engaging in premarital sex. The registrar for the Juvenile Court confirmed Wednesday that the sentence had been imposed Tuesday, after the girl confessed during a court hearing to the charge of fornication. “She’s staying in a children’s home now so we have ordered her to remain in a children’s home. “We have explained to her how if she wants to receive the punishment (the lashings) right now she can … or it can be postponed until she turns 18,” she added. Amnesty International reports the same girl was the alleged victim of sexual abuse by her stepfather. The Juvenile Court registrar said she had no information on reported charges against the girl’s stepfather, as that case was being dealt with by the Criminal Court, but she said that the teenager’s fornication charge was unrelated to the stepfather’s case.
