18 months jail, 200 lashes for child rape

A Saudi court sentenced a Sudanese man to 18 months in prison and ordered him lashed 200 times on charges of raping a 15-year-old Chadian girl.

The judge rebuffed prosecutor’s plea for death punishment on the grounds there was no concrete evidence the man raped the girl.

The child told police that she was taken by the man to his neighbouring apartment in the Western Red Sea port of Jeddah.

Okaz newspaper said the girl was impregnated after the rape but the Sudanese denied all the charges. It said the judge issued that sentence after the defendant failed to provide sufficient evidence of his innocence.