A file image of Maldives police marking the 79th anniversary of the Maldives police service in Male, March 29, 2012.
Investigation began with the discovery of a dead baby, human rights group says
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," registrar Zaima Nasheed Aboobakur told CNN.
"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 told CNN 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.
The prosecutor general told Amnesty International on Wednesday that it couldn't elaborate on the circumstances of the premarital sex other than that the girl had confessed to the offense, punishable under the Islamic country's Sharia laws, said Abbas Faiz, a researcher with the group.
In not releasing further information to the group, the prosecutor general also cited protecting the minor's identity, Faiz told CNN. Maldives, a tourist destination, is an Indian Ocean archipelago of about 1,200 small islands, 200 of which are inhabited and typically have small populations.
Neither the stepfather's name nor the girl's has been released to the public.
CNN, meanwhile, has contacted the prosecutor's office about the specifics of the case against the girl and the allegations against her stepfather. In an e-mail response, the deputy prosecutor general said the office is, "restricted by laws in relation to the amount we can share with (the) public when it involves a minor." The prosecutor's office did promise to provide "as much information as we can," but has not yet responded to CNN's follow-up e-mail.
Faiz objected to how authorities used a confession from a sexually abused minor. The girl should have first received legal guidance and protection, he said.
"Confession from a child who has really gone through some damaging experiences cannot be taken as evidence," he said. "If she had said no, then the only case that would have gone forward would have been the charge of sexually abusing a minor against the stepfather."
Authorities began their investigation after a dead baby was discovered, and investigators questioned the girl, who later confessed to consensual premarital sex, Faiz said. Amnesty International's sources close to the island where the sexual abuse had taken place provided this account, Faiz said.
The investigation then led to a charge against the stepfather, Faiz said.
Authorities haven't indicated to Amnesty International whether charges have been filed in the baby's death, Faiz said. The parents of the baby haven't been disclosed, he added.
Click here to read more.
SOURCE: CNN
Hilary Whiteman
