Yemeni man executed for rape, murder of 4-year-old

SANAA — Yemenis gathered Monday in the rebel-held capital to witness the putting to death of a man convicted of raping and killing a child, in the second such public execution in weeks.

Hussein Al Saket, 22, was found guilty of abducting, raping and murdering a four-year-old girl, who he later buried, said Rajeh Ezzedine, a judge who attended the execution.

Ali Ayedh, the victim’s uncle, said Saket “took part in the search for the girl before being unmasked” during the police investigation.

He said his public execution would act as a “deterrent for criminals”.

Saket was placed face down on Tahrir square in Sanaa, which the Shiite Houthi rebels have controlled since 2014.

A policeman shot him dead through the back with five bullets aiming for the heart, before his body was strung up on the end of a crane.

On July 31, another man was executed in the same square after being convicted of raping and murdering a three-year-old girl.

Both executions have been framed as an example of the Shiite rebels’ efforts to combat crime in their areas. 

The Iran-backed Huthis have been locked in war with the Saudi-backed government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi for more than two years.

More than 8,300 people have been killed and millions displaced in the conflict, while some 2,000 have died of cholera since April. 

The United Nations has described Yemen as “the largest humanitarian crisis in the world,” with 10 million civilians in acute need of life-saving aid as the country teeters on the edge of famine.