Tehran, Feb 15, IRNA -- Three Iranian men, including two brothers and
their cousin, all convicted of drinking alcohol and illicit sex were
whipped in public near Vanaq Square in northern Tehran Thursday.
Brothers Mohammad, Majid and their cousin Ismail Rahimi received
respectively 179, 180 and 180 lashes of a whip.
All three were found guilty by Tehran's Court of Common Pleas.
The whippings were in line with the sharia, or Islamic law, which
forbids the consumption of alcoholic beverages for Muslims as well as
extra-marital sexual relationships.
Punishments can vary from prison to lashing, though rarely in
public, and even death by stoning for adultery.
