Authorities have informed that a judge has set a trial date in the case of a gay Malawian couple facing 14 years in prison for holding a same-sex wedding.

Radio France International reported on Monday that after Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza held a symbolic public ceremony in northern Malawi in December, they were charged with "gross indecency" and jailed without the chance of bail while awaiting trial.

While Chimbalanga and Monjeza have argued that their arrest violates their freedom of conscience, homosexuality is a crime in Malawi.

Amnesty International said, "Criminalization of homosexuality and gender identity is banned under treaties ratified by Malawi, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights."

The BBC also said that Chimbalanga and Monjeza have spent almost 3 months in jail in what is being seen as a test case for gay rights in the deeply conservative African country.

Gift Trapence of the gay rights group Centre for the Development of People, said, "We are sad that the couple will continue suffering for choosing to live the way they were born."

It was expected by the journalists and diplomats that the couple would be sentenced Monday because Magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwausiwa had said the prosecution had established its case but the judge has set an April date for a trial. (With Inputs from Agencies)