Kuwait hangs three for raping, killing child

Kuwait publicly hanged yesterday three men, two Saudis and one Kuwaiti, who were convicted of raping and murdering a six-year old Pakistani girl, witnesses said.

The cases have provoked public soul-searching over security and crime in the tiny oil-rich country, which imposes the death penalty - usually by public hanging - for murderers, rapists and people convicted of crimes against the state.

Marzouq Saed al-Saeed, Saeed al-Saeed and Kuwaiti citizen Hamad al-Daikhany were executed at Naif Palace.

Kuwait's high court in April issued its final verdict in the case, a year after the judicial system first sentenced the three to death for kidnapping, raping and killing Amna al-Khaledi.

Latifa al-Saeed, a Saudi, was also sentenced to 15 years in prison after the Court of Cessation found her guilty of being an accomplice in the crime, luring Khaledi into a car.

Amna was found dead in the Salmi desert in May of 2002 after having been reported missing for several days. Coroner reports revealed she was raped and stabbed several times.