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Girl auctions her virginity

A Hong Kong teenager tried to auction her virginity on a social-networking website with the highest bidder offering $7,800 US (almost R60,000), police said Tuesday.

The girl, whose online ad said she was desperate for money, had set a minimum price equivalent to $1,300 US (nearly R10,000) for sex, a police spokesman said.

The ad on the website hkmensa.net did not give the girl's age, but said she was a teenager and included details about her height and weight.

About 100 people responded to the December 9 ad, which the police spokesman said was taken down by the girl herself before the auction was over.

Police said they had launched an investigation, and posted a warning on the website advising girls not "to sell your body for money".

"One should value morals highly and respect self-esteem," said the warning on hkmensa.net, which is targeted at secondary school students.

Soliciting "unethical conduct" or having sex with an underage person are crimes under Hong Kong law. In recent years, there has been an increasing number of teenaged girls in the city offering their virginity online or going on
Japanese-style "compensated" dates with older men, which can include sex for money.

A 22-year-old US woman sparked controversy last year when she auctioned her virginity online to pay for her college education.

Her offer reportedly attracted thousands of bids going as high as $3.7 million (R27,5 million). - (Sapa, December 2009)

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