China tries teenage girl on group sex charge

A 17-year-old girl in China has been tried for having group sex with two men, in the latest case to raise questions about the nation's changing sexual mores, state press said Wednesday.

The father of the vocational school student, who reported the case to the police, has insisted his daughter was drugged, raped and forced to participate in the videotaped sex acts and should be set free, the Global Times reported.

A court in the southern city of Dongguan has already tried the men and the girl, identified by her pseudonym Li, on charges of "group licentiousness," the paper said, but no verdict has been reached.

The charge is vague, but has been used in the past to convict those who have engaged in group sex activities.

The eight-minute video clip of the sex romp began circulating on the Internet earlier this year, showing the girl "talking and laughing with her naked sex partners," the paper said.

The case comes after a college professor was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison last month on similar charges for organising group sex parties.

The arrest and conviction of the professor drew a chorus of opposition over China's laws on criminal promiscuity, with scholars and advocates of sexual rights and greater sexual freedom calling for legal reform, reports have said.

Relatives of the 17-year-old said the girl should not be found guilty as her parents themselves reported the case to police in March, alleging rape, press reports said.

- Li was a victim who should not be convicted - the Guangzhou Daily quoted a relative as saying.

The age of consent in China is 14.