A 14-YEAR-OLD Arab schoolgirl who has been detained in the United Arab Emirates on a charge of adultery will appear in court later this month.

"The trial will start in spite of the age ceiling set for trials on sexual related crimes by the UAE law," said the daily newspaper Gulf News today.

"The law states that the minimum age of suspects in crimes related to sex must be 15 years. Such cases should be conducted in special juvenile courts.

Otherwise, suspects are considered victims rather than suspects," the daily quoted a "law expert" as saying.

On April 5, Gulf News said police in the emirate of Ajman had arrested the teenager after she met up with her boyfriend on the roof of her family home.

She has since been forced to undergo a gynaecological examination which "confirmed she was still a virgin", the unnamed girl's father was quoted as saying by the English-language daily.

In police custody since March 22, the girl was being held with adult women and bail has been refused for her release.

The young girl was also locked up for three days in solitary confinement in a section reserved for Emiratis.

The paper said the man involved in the case, in his mid-20s, was later arrested in in a neighbouring emirate.

Originally published as UAE to try 14-year-old on adultery charges