Saudi Arabia postponed Raif’s next 50 lashes yesterday, but on Monday they beheaded a woman in public, without anesthetic and taking three blows to do it.
Laila Bint Abdul Muttalib Basim, a Burmese woman who resided in Saudi Arabia, was executed by sword on Monday after being dragged through the street and held down by four police officers.
She was convicted of the sexual abuse and murder of her seven-year-old step-daughter.
A video showed how it took three blows to complete the execution, while the woman screamed “I did not kill. I did not kill.” It has now been removed by YouTube as part of its policy on “shocking and disgusting content”.
There are two ways to behead people according to Mohammed al-Saeedi, a human rights activist: “One way is to inject the prisoner with painkillers to numb the pain and the other is without the painkiller,” he told the Middle East Eye.
“This woman was beheaded without painkillers – they wanted to make the pain more powerful for her.”
So that’s how Saudi Arabia rolls. Not that we do much better here in the US.
In Saudi Arabia a number of crimes, including murder, rape, adultery and armed robbery, can carry a capital sentence.
Beheading is considered one of the more humane punishments the authorities can mete out, a firing squad and stoning are other methods open to judges.
The beheading doesn’t sound so very humane…