Punishment: Father Beheaded

A Saudi man, Maqbul bin Madi al-Sharari has paid the ultimate price for flogging, punching and burning his two-year-old son to death.

According to AFP report, the interior ministry disclosed that Maqbul was beheaded on Tuesday in the northern Jawf region. 

Maqbul was said to have repeatedly hit his son Mohammed with a cane on the back of his head and the rest of his body. 

He repeatedly punched the boy in the face and burned several parts of his body.

He tortured the boy several times which subsequently led to his death.

In Saudi Arabia, and many Islamic countries, crime and punishment is based on Sharia Law (derived from the teachings of the Qu’ran). 

Crimes are punishable by death under Saudi Arabia’s strict version of Islamic sharia law, foreigners are not exempt. 

The death penalty can be imposed for a wide range of offences including murder, rape, false prophecy, blasphemy, armed robbery, repeated drug use, apostasy, adultery, witchcraft, and sorcery.  It can be carried out by beheading with a sword, or more rarely by firing squad, and sometimes by stoning.

According to Rights group Amnesty International, the number of executions rose from 27 in 2010, including five foreigners, to 82 in 2011, including 28 foreigners. 

78 people were beheaded in 2013 while in 2012, the number of executions dipped slightly to 79, among them 27 foreigners.