Jealous lover who blinded woman with acid will be blinded with acid, Iranian court rules amid outcry over hangings



Amenah holds a photograph of her face before acid was thrown at it

A jealous lover who blinded a woman with acid is also to be blinded with acid under the country's Islamic law.

A 27-year-old named only as Majid confessed to attacking Amenah Bahrami in 2004 to dissuade anyone from marrying the woman he loved.

Wednesday's ruling was issued based on the Islamic law system of 'qisas,' or eye for an eye retribution.

The reports say Ameneh asked the court to sentence Majid, who was only identified by his first name, to be blinded by acid to prevent similar attacks on other women.

Majid is allowed to appeal the verdict.

Elsewhere, Iran hanged 10 people in a Tehran jail, all of them convicted of murder. The executions are the latest in a series that have drawn criticism from rights groups.



It said one of those executed at Tehran's Evin prison was a woman who killed her husband in 2001 and cut him into pieces.

'They were hanged after their sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court,' Fars News Agency said, quoting judiciary sources.



Murder, adultery, rape, armed robbery, apostasy and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Iran's sharia law, practised since the 1979 Islamic revolution.



Rights groups and European governments have criticised Iran for an increase in the number of hangings since authorities launched a clampdown on 'immoral behaviour' in July 2007.



Iran dismisses accusations of abuses, insisting it is implementing Islamic law and accusing Western governments of carrying out rights abuses themselves.



Amnesty International said in April that Iran had executed at least 317 people last year, trailing only China, which carried out 470 death sentences.