Hong Kong teen auctions her virginity

Teenager tries to auction her virginity on a social-networking website.

Hong Kong: A Hong Kong teenager tried to auction her virginity on a social-networking website with the highest bidder offering USD 7,800 US, police said today.

The girl, whose online ad said she was desperate for money, had set a minimum price equivalent to 1,300 US dollars 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 is crime 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. PTI