Saudi authorities on Monday executed an Ethiopian housemaid convicted of killing the child of her employer more than three years ago, the interior ministry said.
The ministry noted in a statement that the execution was carried out after the death sentence was endorsed by the king.
The convict had confessed having knifed to death the six-year-old girl in June 2013, allegedly in retaliation for her family’s ill-treatment.
Monday’s beheading brings to 119 the total number of executions so far this year in the conservative kingdom.
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According to international rights groups, Saudi Arabia is among the top executioners in the world.
On January 2, authorities beheaded 47 people, including a prominent Shiite cleric, on terrorism-related charges.
Report says Saudi Arabia has imposed death penalty for murder, armed robbery, banditry, rape, drug-trafficking and witchcraft.
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The kingdom, which applies a strict interpretation of Islamic law, has repeatedly rejected calls to end the death penalty, saying the punishment deters would-be offenders.
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