ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) -- Overriding international condemnation, Nigerian authorities lashed a 17-year-old Muslim girl 100 times with a cane after convicting her of having premarital sex, the government said Monday.
The flogging of Bariya Ibrahim Magazu -- who said she was pressured by her father to have sex with three men -- was carried out Friday in the northern state of Zamfara, according to a brief statement. She was in pain afterward but appeared to suffer no major injuries, local reporters said.
The flogging had been scheduled for Jan. 27, the first anniversary of the imposition of Islamic law, or sharia, in Zamfara, but it was indefinitely postponed last week.
Explaining why they went ahead with the flogging, government spokesman Bashir Sanda said local authorities wanted to bring an early end to a storm of international controversy created by an Islamic court's guilty verdict and sentence in September.
"The governor felt he ought to act immediately to put the matter to rest," Bashir said.
The girl was charged after it was discovered she was pregnant. According to the London-based rights group Amnesty International, she had no representation at her trial.
A sentence of 180 lashes was initially delayed until she delivered a baby boy on Dec. 4. The sentence was reduced to 100 lashes earlier this month amid outcries from human rights groups and the Canadian High Commission, which delivered a diplomatic rebuke to the Nigerian government.
Sharia's introduction in several northern states last year sparked bloody clashes between Christians and Muslims. Hundreds were killed.
