Maldives rape victim sentenced to 100 lashings for premarital sex
Maldivian policemen patrol the streets during clashes with anti-government protestors in the capital island Male on Feb. 8, 2012. The demonstrators were supporting former president Mohamed Nasheed who stepped down a day earlier.
Under a horrifying law, a 15-year-old girl in the Maldives is getting punished by a court for having premarital sex. Worse, she is also a victim of rape in a separate case. While her alleged attacker, her stepfather, has yet to face trial, she has just been convicted of premarital sex, BBC News reported today. Her sentence is 100 lashes.
Amnesty International is outraged. They say that punishment as "cruel, degrading and inhumane."
More from GlobalPost: Maldives girl whose stepfather reportedly raped her charged with fornication
The rape made news in June 2012, after the victim gave birth to a baby that was discovered dead, buried outside her home, Minivan News reported. Her stepfather was later charged with murdering the newborn, along with raping the mother. When police investigated the allegations against him though, they got sidetracked by the victim's sex life.
The bizarre conviction is unfortunately not unusual. Under the Maldives' strict Islamic law, women found to have had consensual sex outside marriage are at risk of getting convicted for the "crime" and punished with public floggings.