/ 7 December 2000

PREGNANT GIRL AWAITS FLOGGING

A PREGNANT 17-year-old girl sentenced by an Islamic court in Nigeria to 180 lashes for pre-marital sex will give birth within days, her family said. Bariya Ibrahim Magazu told the court in September she had been pressured into having sex with three middle-aged men from her village and produced seven witnesses who agreed to her claims. But the court said she had not provided enough proof and found her guilty of sex before marriage and making unproven allegations against the men. She is expected to receive her punishment between 40 days and two months after giving birth. – AFP