In the holiday paradise of the Maldive Islands (well OK I like it) a 15-year-old rape victim has been sentenced to 100 lashes for engaging in premarital sex, local court officials confirmed earlier this week.
The charges against the girl were brought against her last year after police investigated accusations that her stepfather had raped her & killed their baby. He is still, possibly, to face trial. (I guess justice moves faster for women in the Maldives)
The government said it did not agree with the punishment & said it would look into changing the law (which means it plans to do nothing, just like on previous occasions when it said the same thing).
Zaima Nasheed, a spokesperson for the Maldive’s juvenile court (& no doubt a wonderful human being in her “off duty” hours), said the girl was also ordered to remain under house arrest at a children’s home for eight months.
She defended the sentence, saying the girl had “willingly committed an act outside of the law” (you just have to love the certainty of the devout – whether Christian, Hindu or Moslem).
Officials said she would receive the punishment when she turns 18, unless she “requested it earlier”.
The case was sent for prosecution after police were called to investigate a dead baby buried on the island of Feydhoo in the Shaviyani atoll, in the north of the country.
Her stepfather was initially accused of raping her, impregnating her & killing the resulting baby. The girl’s mother also faces charges for failing to report the abuse to the authorities.
File this story under “Why I am a feminist” (& for this one your gender really doesn’t matter).
ThursdayAgain 
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