Reports that emerged on Thursday evening that a Burmese woman was publicly beheaded in Mecca by Saudi authorities for allegedly killing her step-daughter has outraged social media users.
Laila Bint Abdul Muttalib Basim, a Burmese resident of Saudi Arabia, was found guilty by the Saudi Sharia court of torturing and killing her seven-year-old step-daughter. The court reportedly ordered her to be executed by the sword and in the most 'painful' manner.
The video footage of the execution shows Basim repeatedly shouting: "I did not kill, I did not kill," as four policemen drag her onto the street and hold her down on the road. The video was also uploaded on YouTube but was later pulled down.
Human rights activists in Saudi Arabia say there are two methods of beheading people. One is by injecting a person with pain killers and another without pain killers.
"This woman was beheaded without painkillers – they wanted to make the pain more powerful for her," said Mohammed al-Saeedi, a Saudi human rights activist.
Basim was the ninth person to be executed in Saudi Arabia in 2015. Last year, Saudi Arabia executed 87 people, up from 78 in 2013.
According to Human Rights Watch 72 of the 87 executions in 2014 took place between August and December and 43 percent of those killed were foreign nationals, including two women.
The beheading sparked angry reaction online. On Twitter, many condemned the Saudi government for its cruel ways of executing convicted criminals.
Twitter Reactions
Andrew Beckett @AndrewBeckett
Horrific beheading of woman by our barbaric "ally" Saudi Arabia. #NothingToDoWithIslam
ww @wallyworkswell
Seeing people executed by an Islamic Sharia law trial directly in public wherever they are, is this justice for us?
Paddy Irish man @pattherat2014
Saudi Arabia beheading more foreign workers this week. This is the most barbaric nation on earth and it must be stopped. #terroriststate
Abhorsen @LiraelClayr
Saudi Arabia the world is watching you, we see you flogging ppl and beheading woman. We're judging you and find you wanting.
Julian Richards @Julian_F_R
She was a victim of state barbarism RT @DVATW: Saudi's ninth beheading of 2015.Saudi sits on UN Human Right's Council
Angela Lo Rosso @AngelaLoRosso
If you wonder where #ISIS get their beheading practices from, look no further than Saudi Arabia. Wahhabism at it's most ugliest.
Saudi Arabia's legal system is based on Sharia. Crimes like armed robbery, drug-related offences, sorcery, adultery, murder, rape and apostasy from Islam invite death penalty.
Further, the most human means of execution is beheading, though there are other methods like stoning, crucifixion, and death by firing squad.
