A 64-year-old man was sentenced to be hanged in Tehran after a court found him guilty of sexually abusing female applicants for the post of lab assistant in what turned out to be a fake medical practice, Jomhuri-e Eslami daily, reported Tuesday.
Iran’s Mehr news agency reported that at least four female witnesses accused the man of using sleeping pills to subdue them before committing rape and robbing them. The court found the defendant guilty of 14 instances of theft and eight of rape, and handed him three death sentences by hanging. He was also ordered to be whipped 74 times, jailed for 10 years for theft and for two years for pretending to be a physician.
The defendant has admitted to stealing money, but denied the rape charges. He has 20 days to appeal.
-Ahmad Shayegan
