Govt to review the sentence of flogging handed to Feydhoo girl- President

President Dr. Mohamed Waheed has said that the government will push for review the sentence of flogging the fifteen year old girl from Feydhoo who confessed to have had consensual premarital sex.

In view of the Criminal Court's sentence to flog the girl on the charges of having fornicated consensually, the President stated in a tweet that he is saddened by the sentence of flogging handed to a minor and that the government will push for review of this position.

Similarly, the United Nations Country Team Maldives also expressed deep concern over the reported sentence of flogging of a 15-year-old girl.

In a press release, United Nations Country Team Maldives stated that the child is allegedly a victim of long-standing sexual abuse. UN stated that under international legal human rights obligations of Maldives, corporal punishment, including flogging, amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or even to torture.

"The approach to sexual abuse which has been adopted in numerous international human rights frameworks is that governments should implement prevention, prosecution of perpetrators, and protection measures to ensure that sexual abuse does not occur. Where it has occurred, governments should put in place measures for rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration of victims," United Nations Country Team Maldives stated.

According to BBC the prosecutors said her conviction did not relate to the rape case. Zaima Nasheed, a spokesperson for the juvenile court, said the girl was also ordered to remain under house arrest at a children's home for eight months.

BBC stated that she defended the punishment, saying the girl had willingly committed an act outside of the law. Officials said she would receive the punishment when she turns 18, unless she requested it earlier.