Iran has hanged five convicted murderers in the capital's Evin prison, including a woman who was found guilty of killing and chopping up her five-day-old son, the state-owned Iran newspaper reported on Thursday.
The mother, identified only by her first name Soheila, was sentenced to death for the 2006 killing even though the court found she had been suffering from depression following the delivery, the paper said.
The 27-year-old Soheila, who ran away from home at 14, had already been arrested in the past for conducting illegal relationships, the paper added.
An Afghan, identified as Lal Saeed, was also among those executed. He had been convicted of separate murders in 2001 and 2006.
The hangings, which were all carried out on Wednesday, bring to at least 242 the number of people executed in the Islamic republic so far this year, according to an AFP count based on news reports.
In 2008, Iran hanged 246 people, the highest number of executions carried out by any country bar China.
Tehran says the death penalty is a necessary tool for maintaining public security and is applied only after exhaustive judicial proceedings.
Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are all punishable by death in Iran.
<<Print>>