[Charlie-Horse]

Girl, 13, forced into bestiality

TWO sick men and a woman have been jailed in the African state of Tanzania for forcing a 13-year-old girl to have sex with a dog.

Magistrate Gadiel Mariki handed the trio 20 years behind bars each after finding them guilty of "forcing a girl to have sex with a dog".

The beasts struck in the city of Mwanza, northern Tanzania, in March 2008.

Job Mlama, 30, Anicet Edward, 30, and Shija Madata, 18, were employed by Canadian mining exploration company, Barrick Exploration Africa Ltd.

They were sacked from their jobs shortly after the incident.

In his judgment, Mr Mariki said the trio lured the schoolgirl into the company workers' campsite, and convinced her to spend the night there.

They then forced her into bestiality.

The court ordered that the dog — owned by one of the Canadian expats working there — be turned over to police.

Human rights activists condemned the sentence as too lenient.

Rehema Kerefu, director of the Tanzania Women's Legal Aid Committee, said: "These people deserved the death penalty or a life term.

"It is a horrible, despicable offence. They deserved a punishment that should be a lesson to others with such a habit."