Manama: Two convicted rapists and killers were put to death on Tuesday in a Kuwaiti prison in Salibiya.
Hajjaj Al Sa’adi, known in the local media as the “Hawalli Beast” for allegedly raping 18 children, and Ahmad Abdul Salam, both Egyptians, were executed in the Central Prison at around 8am in the presence of the public prosecutor and other legal officials, local websites reported.
A call by an international human rights watchdog to “cancel the executions immediately” went unanswered.
The Beast was reportedly arrested in 2007 as he was about to board a plane for Egypt. Courts in 10 separate cases condemned him to death and to life in prison in three other cases.
The sentences were upheld by the court of appeals and the court of cassation.
Kuwaiti authorities said that the rapes by the Beast started in early 2006 and that the victims were young boys and girls aged less than 10.
He targeted them mostly in the afternoon and used his physical force to overwhelm them, they said.
Three other men on death row were also scheduled to be put to death, but their case was postponed after the victims’ families have reportedly forgiven them.
On April 1, A Pakistani, a Saudi and a stateless man were hanged as Kuwait carried out its first execution since May 2007 when a drug trafficker was put to death. According to the local media, 46 convicts are on death row.
