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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Indian couple stoned to death for marrying outside caste

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United Nations statistics suggest 1,000 of the 5,000 such murders globally every year occur in India.

Relatives of an Indian woman who married outside her caste and fled her home to escape punishment stoned her and her husband to death after the couple returned to their village to visit family, police said Thursday.

The 29-year-old couple, from the same village in the southern state of Karnataka, had married three years ago against the wishes of their families and moved to Bangalore and other cities in the region, and had 2 children.

But they returned to the village last month to meet family members.

"They were spotted by villagers on Wednesday, who informed the brother of the woman after which he gathered a mob that attacked the couple and killed them with stones," local police officer Guru Shanth told AFP.

"3 of the main accused have been identified, including the brother and uncle of the woman."

The incident is the latest in a string of so-called "honour killings" which are rampant in rural pockets of the country.

They are typically carried out by close relatives or village elders to protect what is seen as the family's reputation in a rigid caste system.

United Nations statistics suggest 1,000 of the 5,000 such murders globally every year occur in India.

India's Supreme Court ruled in 2011 that those found guilty of such killings should face the death penalty.

Source: Agence France-Presse, Staff, November 8, 2019


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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Location: India
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