Iran hangs man in public over homosexuality, rape charges
Sexual relationship between members of the same sex is illegal in Iran as any sexual act outside a heterosexual marriage is forbidden.
Published: 03rd February 2019 02:46 PM | Last Updated: 03rd February 2019 02:46 PM | A+A A-
Image used for representational purpose only
A 31-year-old man was hanged in public for allegedly kidnapping and raping two teen males in the southwestern city of Kazeroon.
The news of the unidentified man's execution on January 10 was broken by gaystarnews, who quoted the state-controlled ISNA news agency. The man was found guilty of kidnapping two 15-year-old boys, whom he later raped. However, he was charged with laws against homosexuality - and not paedophilia.
Any sexual relationship between members of the same sex is illegal in Iran, just like any sexual act outside a heterosexual marriage is forbidden.
If proven guilty, the passive partner in a consensual same-sex relationship is awarded the capital punishment. At the same time, if the active partner is convicted of rape, then the passive partner is declared innocent. This often forces the families of accused men to accuse their partner of rape in order to escape the death penalty.
The news report accused the Iranian government of acting "uncharacteristically" as the man was put to death straight away. The man was not even allowed to serve the jail sentence for the kidnap charges.
The Iranian custom of imposing the lighter penalty over the guilty first in case of multiple sentences was broken in the case.
