Uncle beheads 15-month-old nephew in Saudi supermarket: report

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2008

RIYADH (AFP) — A man beheaded his 15-month-old nephew in front of his mother in a supermarket in Saudi Arabia apparently after a family dispute, newspapers reported Monday.

The 25-year-old Syrian national picked up a knife from the store in the Red Sea city of Jeddah on Sunday and decapitated the little boy in full view of shoppers, Arab News said.

The man apparently killed him following a dispute with his sister and brother-in-law, the English-language daily said.

"He chopped off the boy's head in front of the mother to get back at her," a police officer was quoted as saying. The mother fainted and was taken to hospital.

Murder is punishable by death in ultra-conservative Muslim Saudi Arabia, where the death sentence is usually carried out by beheading.

© 2008 AFP