COLOMBO: Maldives authorities have called on the country's Islamic ministry and judiciary to stop the public flogging of a teenaged girl for having sex outside marriage, a government official said on Friday. A court last week sentenced the 15-year-old to 100 lashes after she admitted to having consensual sex, a court official said. The official said details of the consensual sex emerged when police investigated her complaint against her stepfather and another man of sexually abusing her.

He said the sentence includes an option for the flogging to be carried out when the girl turns 18.

Her partner has not been identified and it was not clear how hard the police tried to identify him, he said.

Government spokesman Masood Imad said the government considered her a victim of sexual abuse and wants the sentence revoked.

He said President Mohammed Waheed Hassan has started talks with the Islamic ministry, judiciary, attorney general, human rights commission and gender ministry in order to stop “victims becoming victims of the law.''—AP