The Mauritanian authorities have charged a secondary school student with blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammed, state media reports.
The AMI news agency said the prosecutor’s office in the capital, Nouakchott, had indicted Maria Cheikh Abdallahi Obed with the charge, which can be punishable by death.
A statement from the prosecutor said that a baccalaureate exam paper allegedly considered insulting to the Muslim religion had been discovered in a test centre in the north-western town of Atar.
It added that an investigation led to the identification of the suspect and her arrest.
The prosecutor charged Ms Obed with “mocking and insulting the prophet” and “using social media to harm Islamic sanctities”, AMI reported.
The official announcement of the arrest comes after the country’s religious authorities decreed that people found guilty of insulting the Prophet Muhammad should face the death penalty.
The Mauritanian Council of Islamic Scholars issued an edict on the issue last week after President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani ordered clerics to clarify their stance on blasphemy.
The council justified the use of capital punishment for people found guilty in court of insulting the prophet.
Al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper relayed a statement from the suspect’s family on 21 July that said their relative suffered from mental illness, and asked the public for forgiveness.