A judge in Malawi today sentenced a gay couple to the maximum 14 years in prison for unnatural acts and gross indecency.

The harsh sentence had been expected after the same judge convicted Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza earlier this week under Malawi's anti-gay laws dating from the colonial era.

Malawi's government has been defiant in the face of international criticism over the couple's prosecution.

Mr Chimbalanga, a 20-year-old hotel janitor, and his unemployed partner were arrested the day after they celebrated their engagement with a party at the hotel where Mr Chimbalanga worked - an apparent first in Malawi.

Homosexuality is illegal in at least 37 countries in Africa including Malawi. In Uganda, lawmakers are considering a bill that could sentence homosexuals to life in prison and includes capital punishment for "repeat offenders".

Even in South Africa, the only African country that recognises gay rights, gangs have raped lesbians.

Gay people forced underground in Africa are unlikely to seek counselling and treatment for Aids, activists say. In Malawi, nearly a million people - an estimated 12% of the population - are living with HIV.