Tehran: Iran hanged on Monday a serial killer of women, three rapists and two political activists in the capital Tehran and the nearby city of Karaj, reports said.
Omid Barak, 24, was hanged in public in Karaj Square for murdering, raping and robbing 10 women, state television's website said.
Three other men, named as Ghavam Atakeshzadeh, Mostafa Karimi Khaneghah and Reza Dehghan, were hanged in Tehran's Evin prison for raping a teenage boy in 2007, the report said.
In a separate report, the Tehran prosecutor's office said Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Hajaghaei were hanged on Monday over ties with Islamic regime's exiled opposition, People's Mujahedeen of Iran, and "rioting."
The executions were the first reported hangings of protesters who staged demonstrations against the re-election of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a poll they said was rigged.
The latest hangings bring the total number of executions so far this year to 52 -- on average more than two a day -- according to a news agency count based on media reports. Most of them have been drug traffickers.
In 2010, Iran hanged at least 179 people, according to media reports.
Along with China, Saudi Arabia and the United States, Iran has one of the highest numbers of executions each year.
Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are among the crimes punishable by death in Iran.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, January 24, 2011, 22:44