Would-be rapist beheaded

A Saudi man was beheaded in the kingdom’s capital today for attempting to rape a woman, the Interior Ministry said.

Adnan bin Ali al-Shahrani had been convicted of forcefully entering a house and trying to rape a woman inside by brandishing a knife and threatening to kill her son, a ministry statement reported by the official Saudi Press Agency said.

The statement said he was unsuccessful in his attempt, and upon his arrest, confessed to the crime.

The statement said he was a convicted felon and was intoxicated when he broke into the home.

It brings to eight the number of people executed in the kingdom this year. Last year at least 52 people, mostly drug smugglers, were beheaded.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which people convicted of drug trafficking, murder, rape and armed robbery are executed. Beheadings are carried out with a sword in public.