In 2015, Saudi Arabia executed 153 people convicted of various crimes, including drug trafficking, up from 87 in 2014, according to AFP tallies. (Representational Image)
Saudi authorities today executed an Ethiopian woman convicted of murdering a Saudi female with an axe, the 50th death sentence carried out in the kingdom this year, the interior ministry said.
Jinat Farid was found guilty of killing Ghalia Eida al-Harithi by striking her repeatedly with an axe as the victim knelt to perform Muslim prayers, the ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency SPA.
After killing Harithi, the Farid stole two gold rings and an unspecified amount of money, the ministry said.
She was executed in the western city of Taif.
The ministry did not specify any connection between the culprit and the victim, but the kingdom hosts large numbers of domestic workers that come from African and South Asian countries.
On January 2, the kingdom executed 47 men convicted of "terrorism", including Al-Qaeda-linked militants and Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, whose death has prompted a diplomatic row with Iran.
In 2015, Saudi Arabia executed 153 people convicted of various crimes, including drug trafficking, up from 87 in 2014, according to AFP tallies.
Amnesty International says the number of executions in Saudi Arabia last year was the highest for two decades.
However, the number is way behind that of Iran and China.
Under the kingdom's strict Islamic legal code, murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy are all punishable by death.
Most executions in the kingdom are carried out by beheading with a sword.