Two teenage girls, 16 and 17, were arrested for kissing on a rooftop in Morocco.
A cousin of one of the girls took a photo of their intimate moment and posted it on Facebook.
The mother of one of the girls saw the image and reported the girls to the police, who arrested them and took them to jail.
The Washington Post reports the girls are being held in an adult prison, where they are subjected to abuse daily.
Homosexual behavior is illegal in the north African country.
The girls were charged with “licentious or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex” under Article 489 of the Moroccan penal code.
Punishment can range from six months to three years in prison.
The hashtag #freethegirls was trending on Twitter.com Thursday.
Angry Twitter users lashed out at the Morroccan king for allowing such frivolous charges.
One user tweeted: “The king pardons Spanish pedophiles that flee to Morocco, pays for the legal fees of rapists, but will jail 2 girls just for kissing”.
The king of Morocco is the father of 13-year-old Crown Prince Moulay Hassan, whose disdain for traditional hand kissing was documented in a viral video last year.
