Dad’s joy as man who raped toddler MACHINE GUNNED in street execution
A FATHER has spoken of his "relief and gratitude" at seeing the man who raped and murdered his three year-old-daughter executed by machine guns in front of a baying mob.
Muhammad al-Maghrabi was shot dead at point blank range by police armed with AK-47s, in a public square in Sana'a, Yemen.
The 41-year-old was convicted of raping and killing three-year-old Rana Yahya Al-Matari.
Images released from his execution show him on the floor with his hands handcuffed behind his back.
A soldier towers over him with a machine gun aimed at his back before he fires.
The rapist’s punishment was watched by hundreds of baying spectators in the city’s main square.
The crowd, of mostly men, took out their mobile phones to record the event.
Among them was Rana's father Yahya Almatari, who stood at the front to watch al Maghrabi, a close neighbour of his, die.
He said: "I feel as if I have been reborn.
"This is the first day of my life. I am relieved now."
Mr Almatari described how after the execution he and male members of his family went to the morgue where Rana's body was being kept and buried her in a nearby cemetery.
”My wife Jamileh and I are grateful to God.
"Justice and the ruling of Allah have been done."
My wife Jamileh and I are grateful to God. Justice and the ruling of Allah have been done
Rana disappeared from outside her home in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a during Eid.
She had bene snatched by al-Maghrabi, who took the little girl back to his father's house and raped her.
He then strangled her to death.
The Moroccan national was arrested two days after Rana's disappearance on June 25.
He pleaded guilty to raping and killing Rana, but was initially sentenced to 100 lashes by the Sharia court.
But a judge eventually sentenced the killer to death following public outcry at the leniency of his punishment.
The condemned man was dragged from a police van and put on the floor as crowds shouted "long live justice".
Television stations also broadcast his death to viewers at home.