Ultraviolet Thunderpussy's View: Commentary, Vintage Male Photos, Videos.

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. From CNN - The registrar for the Juvenile Court confirmed Wednesday that the sentence was 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. Neither the stepfather's name nor the girl's has been released to the public. She has been sexually abused and at the same time she has been charged with an offense... We are really outraged at this punishment Abbas Faiz, Amnesty International 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 email 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 followup email questions. Spokesman for the President's Office, Masood Imad, told CNN the government considered the teenager to be a victim who should not be flogged, but said the government was unable to intervene in the judicial process. "We cannot just send a memo to the judiciary and say, 'Don't lash anybody hereafter.' It doesn't happen that way any more. We have to talk with them, get them to understand, get them to initiate the laws or we initiate the laws together and then pass it to the legislature," Imad said. He said the Ministry of Gender and Family was leading talks with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs to try to convince the judiciary that the law needs changing. "We have to engage with the judiciary and we've got to suggest to them that we need to change these laws to better identify victims and perpetrators," Imad said. The circumstances surrounding the fornication charge against the girl are not known. The case attracted the attention of rights groups last month, when Amnesty International issued a statement urging the Maldivian authorities to drop all charges. "She has been sexually abused and at the same time she has been charged with an offense that carries a punishment of flogging. We are really outraged at this punishment," Abbas Faiz from Amnesty International told CNN on Wednesday. Human Rights Watch condemned the girl's punishment and urged the government to change the law. "The Maldives should urgently reform its laws to ensure maximum protection for children instead of engaging in further punishing a child that they failed to protect," said Meenakshi Ganguly, Human Rights Watch director for South Asia. They just pretend she's been lashed. It's not a painful process... It's just a token exercise Masood Imad, Maldivian president's spokesman Even as he condemned of the sentencing, the President's spokesman, Masood Imad, played down the physical effects of the lashing, referring to the punishment as "ceremonial." "They just pretend she's been lashed. It's not a painful process. She is taken to one side and she is patted on her backside with this lashing. It's not used hard. It's just a token, a token exercise. It's a belief," Imad said. Aboobakur also said, "the lashes are not given that hard." She said she had witnessed floggings and that most people "just keep quiet and still until it finishes." She said floggings were carried out in a public area for adults, while the punishment was administered to juveniles in a separate area nearby. The recipient was not required to wear any specific clothing, she said, adding that the lashes were delivered to the upper thighs and buttocks.