Kuwait | Man sentenced to death for kidnapping, slaying mother of two

A Kuwaiti court on 6 July 2021 sentenced a man to death after convicting him of the kidnap and murder of a mother of two, a crime that shocked the emirate.

The brutal killing of Farah Hamzah Akbar, 32, whose body was dumped outside a hospital on April 20 after she was snatched in broad daylight, sparked protests and calls for justice.

“The verdict hit the nail on the head, and we hope it is backed and implemented so the family can rest,” the Akbar family lawyer, Abdulmohsen al-Qattan, told AFP.

He added that the case will now be referred to the court of appeal for review.

The man, who had persisted in stalking Akbar despite several complaints to authorities, dragged her from a car during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Akbar had previously filed two harassment complaints against the man who had proposed to her although she was already married. He had been arrested but was released on bail.

The interior ministry said at the time of the murder that Akbar had been stabbed in the chest.

The attacker was arrested shortly afterward and confessed to the crime, sparking calls for his execution.

After the killing, some 200 people, including men, rallied to mourn the victim and demand tougher penalties for violence against women.

Kuwaiti women are pushing the boundaries of their society, considered one of the most open in the Gulf. A law against harassment exists but discussions about gender-based violence remain taboo.

“Women in Kuwait demand protection from harassment, abuse, and murder by providing them with shelters and laws that protect them,” Lulwa Saleh al-Mulla, head of the Kuwaiti Women’s Cultural and Social Society, told AFP following the verdict.

“Farah’s (killing) was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Enough is enough.”

Perrier water, orange juice, nibbles... The death penalty Kuwaiti style.

KUWAIT: Authorities [in April 2013] hanged three convicted murderers in the first executions
in the state since May 2007.The men, a Pakistani, a Saudi and a bedoon (stateless Arab), were
hanged at the Central Jail in Sulaibiya in front of judicialand security officials and journalists.

The true face of capital punishment: The above video is provided for information
and educational purposes.

Source: Agence France-Presse, Staff, July 10, 2021

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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

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Arizona AG seeks execution date for man convicted in 1995 trooper killing

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Florida set to carry out 14th execution this year in the nation's busiest death chamber

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