An Iranian serial killer who murdered at least 20 children has been executed in front a large crowd of spectators.Mohammad Bijeh, 24, dubbed "the Tehran desert vampire" by Iran's press, was flogged 100 times before being hanged.
A brother of one of his young victims stabbed him as he was being punished. The mother of another victim was asked to put the noose around his neck.
The killer was hoisted about 10 metres into the air by a crane and slowly throttled to death in front of the baying crowd.
The killer collapsed twice during the punishment, although he remained calm and silent throughout.
Spectators, held back by barbed wire and about 100 police officers, chanted "harder, harder" as judicial officials took turns to flog Bijeh's bare back before his hanging. The condemned collapsed twice during the pre-execution flogging Bijeh was stabbed by the 17-year-old brother of victim Rahim Younessi, AFP reported, as he was being readied to be hanged.
Officials then invited the mother Milad Kahani to put the blue nylon rope around his neck.
The crimes of Mohammed Bijeh and his accomplice Ali Baghi had drawn massive attention in the Iranian media.
They tricked children to go with them into the desert south of Tehran by saying they were going to hunt animals. They then poisoned or knocked their victims out, sexually abused them and buried them in shallow graves.They were found guilty of the murders of between 19 and 22 people, but local people believe the toll to be higher.
Baghi has been given a 15 year prison term.
7 comments:
my take on this would make previous comments sound contradictory.
i guess that's the nature of being human.
While I completely understand, that is one thing I really dislike about Persian and Arab cultures - their rigid adherence to an eye for an eye. Even if I were to say it's cool for the family to vent their anger on the guy, making it a public spectacle (i) is no more or less than the shit we've been deluged with about Anna Nicole and (ii) breeds a blood lust thirst for vengeance. It socializes people to thrive on vengeance and that is not healthy spritually or physically.
I agree Insurgent. Very true. "Vengeance is mine sayeth the lord".
However - I do empathize with the collective unadulterated demonstration of 0 Tolerance for this type of evil.
The Persian / Arabs seem to demonstrate the same weaknesses and frailties as does those of us in the west - without the trappings of hypocrisy like "lethal injections".
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I empathise with the zero tolerance, but people who are serial killers are never deterred by such punishments. The only people who get the message are those who wouldn't do heinous stuff like that. Thus, such public punishments become a source of entertainment. No different than when people were thrown into the arena with lions in Rome. If that is what a society finds entertaining, there are serious moral problems.
Maybe.
Killing in public vs killing in private and later uploading onto YouTube has it's advantages besides entertainment.
Even those who would never molest a child under any circumstances benefit from witnessing the punishment of evil.
As opposed to in this country where it's not "evil" being punished by the violation of man made laws that garners punishment.
Subtle but important difference.
As opposed to in this country where it's not "evil" being punished by the violation of man made laws that garners punishment.
I don't understand what you are saying here.
J,
Don't confuse understanding with agreement. I understand people's thirst for vengeance, but I don't agree with it. Encouraging vengeance is dangerous and always a sign that someone is capitalizing on the personal grief of another. Forgiveness is the only way someone can truly heal. Thus, when a person calls for vengeance, he is concerned with his own political standing and not with the people who were actually harmed.
J,
Are you suggesting that a man who lures 20 children into the desert, rapes them and kills them SHOULD NOT be put to death?
Perhaps you think it would be more humane, Christian and MLK nonviolent to put them in a cage for 60 years?
I bet you Iran has far fewer child molestation / murders per capita than does the United States.
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