Talks are under way in the Maldives in a bid to halt the public flogging of a teenage girl for having sex outside marriage.

A court in the tiny island of Feydhoo last week sentenced the 15-year-old to 100 lashes after she admitted to having consensual sex.

A court official said details of the consensual sex emerged when police investigated her complaint against her stepfather and another man of sexually abusing her.

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

Government officials are in discussion with the country’s Islamic ministry and judiciary to stop the flogging.

The United Nations in 2011 urged the Maldives to end the “degrading” practice. 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, said Mr Imad.

The practice of flogging for sex outside marriage has been widely condemned and it is often the woman who is singled out for punishment.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay in 2011 said: “This practice constitutes one of the most inhumane and degrading forms of violence against women, and should have no place in the legal framework of a democratic country.”

Pilay urged the author-ities to change the law that allows flogging.

Maldives is an Indian Ocean archipelago of 300,000 people, all of whom are Sunni Muslims. Practising or preaching any other religion is illegal.

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