A 35-year-old Iranian woman has been buried up to her armpits and stoned to death by court officials for acting in pornographic films, Entekhab newspaper said Monday. The woman was arrested on charges of producing and acting in the obscene films, Reuters reported.
She denied the charges, but evidence and testimony from witnesses led the judge to hand down the maximum sentence allowed under Islamic Sharia law, the paper said.
She was stoned by court officers at Tehran's Evin Prison, in the presence of the judge who tried her case.
Stoning is a relatively rare punishment in Iran, where drug smugglers and murderers are usually hanged. The last stoning was in June 1996, when two Iranians were stoned for adultery.
According to Islamic Sharia, married men and women convicted of adultery are to be executed by stoning in public. But the charge cannot be proved unless four men testify under oath that they have seen a complete act of intercourse. Otherwise, the case is supposed to be dismissed on the basis of the slightest doubt.
Women are also allowed to testify in such cases, but each one only counts as half a male witnesses – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
