Murderer-rapist publicly hanged in Iran

Murderer-rapist publicly hanged in Iran

LONDON, August 12 (IranMania) - An Iranian man convicted of raping and murdering a young boy was hanged in public in the northwestern city of Tabriz, Kayhan newspaper reported Saturday.

The report did not identify the man but said he was hanged in a public square amid a cheering crowd.

He had been sentenced to death for raping and then murdering a five-year-old boy in March 2004, said AFP.

The hanging brings to at least 83 the number of people executed in Iran so far in 2006, according to an AFP tally based on press and witness reports.

Amnesty International, which campaigns against the death penalty worldwide, has said that 94 executions were carried out in Iran in 2005.

Capital offences in the Islamic republic include murder, rape, armed robbery, apostasy, blasphemy, serious drug trafficking, repeated sodomy,

adultery or prostitution, treason and espionage.

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