The perpetrators had abducted the girl in Kermanshah about 2 months ago, raped her and later beheaded the victim with a saw. Shortly after the crime, the 4 were arrested and sentenced to death.
Iranian law knows no mercy for murderers, especially rapists of girls.
The penalty in such cases is always death by hanging. Charges read out in Lusaka Magistrate's Court accused them of involvement in the Oct. coup attempt through a private army recruited from the ranks of the Zambian army. The suspects are also alleged to have broken into the defense force armory, assaulted and tied up senior army officers, and seized the state broadcaster's offices to announce a takeover of the government. They were not asked to plead and the court postponed the hearing to March 7. The accused are among at least 77 people detained under emergency laws invoked after the failed coup.