TEHRAN (AFP) – A 19-year-old man convicted of raping a teenage boy has been hanged in the northeastern city of Mashhad, the Khorasan newspaper reported on Monday.
The unidentified man, who was convicted of raping a 16-year-old boy, was executed in the city’s central prison on Saturday, the report added.
The latest hanging brings to 174 the number of executions reported in Iran so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on media and official reports.
Iranian media reported 179 hangings last year, but international human rights groups say the actual number was much higher, ranking the Islamic republic second only to China in the number of people it executed.
Tehran says the death penalty is essential to maintain law and order, and is applied only after exhaustive judicial proceedings.
Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are among the crimes punishable by death in Iran.
Culled from Vanguard
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