Female Executions in the Late 20th Century

Analysis by Country

Afghanistan

On July 11, 1996, an Afghan woman and her stepson were stoned to death for incest in the rebel-held southern town of Kandahar.
On November 16, 1999, a woman identified only as Zarmeena was publicly shot by a single executioner with a Kalashnikov rifle in a football stadium for beating her husband to death with a hammer while he slept.
- She is believed to be the only woman executed for murder by the Taliban regime.
Since the overthrow of the Taliban, there have been no reported female executions in Afghanistan.

America (USA)

America has historically shown marked reluctance to execute women.

The last female execution before 1977 was that of Elizabeth Ann Duncan by lethal gas on August 8, 1962, in California.
A total of 45 women were executed in America during the 20th century. Click here for details of their cases.
Women commit around 15% of all murders in America but represent only about 1.5% of the overall death row population.
All female death sentences and executions are for first-degree murder.

Notable Female Executions in the USA

Margie Velma Barfield
- Executed by lethal injection on November 2, 1984, at Raleigh Central Prison, North Carolina.
- Convicted for the murders of four people, including her own mother.
- She was the first woman to die by lethal injection in the United States.
Karla Faye Tucker
- Executed by lethal injection on February 3, 1998, in Texas.
- Convicted of the brutal 1983 murders of two people with a pickaxe.
- Became a born-again Christian during her years on death row.
- Her execution attracted huge international publicity.
- First female execution in Texas since Chipita Rodriguez was hanged in 1863.
Judias Buenoano
- Electrocuted in Florida on March 30, 1998.
- Known as the “Black Widow.”
- Convicted of killing her son, poisoning her husband, and attempting to blow up her boyfriend.
- First female execution in Florida since 1848.

There were no female executions in America during 1999.

Botswana

On April 24, 1971, Botswana hanged two tribeswomen for child murder:
- Mmalekoto Kegodile
- Seloko Mmamalebe
These were the first female executions in Botswana since its independence in 1966.

Chechnya

On September 3, 1997, Russia’s rebel Chechnya region staged its first public execution.
A young man and his wife were executed by firing squad after being found guilty of murder by an Islamic court.
The execution took place on Friendship Square in the center of Grozny, where hundreds gathered to watch masked executioners shoot the couple at point-blank range with Kalashnikov assault rifles.

China

China executes more people per year than the rest of the world combined, but only a small proportion are women.

Until 2002, executions were carried out privately (but outside prisons) immediately after sentence confirmation, typically by a single bullet to the back of the head or heart.
Lethal injection has become increasingly used, though methods are often kept secret.
Only a small proportion of executions are reported in Chinese media, so additional female executions may have occurred.

Female Executions Reported in China

1996: Four women were shot, all for murder.
1997:
- Han Yuji, former president of Jilin province’s Yuquan Industrial and Trade Co, was shot for organizing a huge fraud.
May 28, 1998:
- Yan Guangfen was shot in Chongqing for kidnapping 12 boys.
December 1998: Four women were shot:
- Two for murder, including 18-year-old Tang Linjiao and 21-year-old Xiong Wenna.
- Two for drug offenses.
1999: Two female executions reported:
- Ma Yulan (executed March 2) for brothel keeping.
- Zhou Mingrong (executed August 25) for masterminding a fraudulent savings scheme.
Death sentences for “economic crimes” were relatively common.

Congo

On May 15, 1999, two unnamed women were executed by firing squad for murder.

Egypt

On January 11, 1987, 30-year-old Samiha Abdel-Hamid became the first woman executed in Egypt in 40 years.
- She hated her husband, strangled him in his sleep, and dismembered his body.
- She was hanged in Cairo’s Bab-el-Chalk Prison.
- Reports say she struggled with her guards at the gallows, cursed all men, and spat at officials.
Zeinab Mohamed Ahmed was hanged for murder on September 18, 1991.
Manal Abd al-Qabel was executed in Tanta on May 8, 1999, also for murder.
Executions in Egypt use a British-style noose and measured drop and are carried out in private.

Iran

After the overthrow of the Shah, Iran executed a large number of women by shooting and hanging.
Since 1983, reported female executions have become quite rare and are generally for murder or drug offenses.
Execution is normally by hanging without a drop, carried out in private or public.
Recently, hydraulic jibs of breakdown trucks have been used for public executions of both sexes.
For a detailed analysis of the situation in Iran, see Women and the Death Penalty in Modern Iran.

Iraq

Saddam Hussein’s regime reportedly carried out a substantial number of female executions up to 2003.
No detailed information is available regarding the names and crimes of these women.
There was a female death row in Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison, where most executions were thought to be by hanging, though shooting and beheading were also used.
It has been reported that condemned women were allowed a party on the eve of their hanging.

Japan

Japan has executed only one woman in recent years:
- Nobuko Hidaka, 51, was executed alongside her husband, Yasumasa, 54, on August 2, 1997, at a detention center in Sapporo.
- They were convicted of killing six employees in a 1984 dormitory fire they set to obtain an insurance payout.
Executions in Japan are rare (typically 2–4 per year) and all are for murder.
Method of execution is measured-drop hanging in private detention centers.

Jordan

Jordan, a small country, had a surprising number of female executions in the 1990s.
Between 1994 and 2004, there were 103 civilian executions, of which nine were women (8.75% of the total).
Executions are carried out by hanging at Swaqa Prison, about 45 miles (75 km) south of Amman.
Jordanian hangings are private, but female executions are always heavily attended by officials.
It is unclear if a measured drop is used.
Four women were executed for murder in the 1990s:
- Amira Saleem, 31, a Syrian woman, and her neighbor, Eidah Hussein, 35, were hanged together on June 25, 1997.
  - They were convicted of murdering Saleem’s husband, Murad Youssef, also Syrian, in March 1996.
  - According to court testimony, Saleem wanted her husband killed because he mistreated and beat her.
  - Hussein shot Youssef, and the two women sliced his body into eight pieces and dumped it in a drain.
- Raya Musa, 35, was executed on August 28, 1997, for killing her husband with rat poison after he refused her request for a divorce.
- Egyptian sisters, Rasha Ibrahim (19) and Abeer Ibrahim (24), were hanged on December 3, 1998, for the robbery and murder of Abeer’s elderly employer.

Kuwait

Since independence from Britain in 1961 and up to 1999, two women have been hanged in Kuwait:
- Alice Norban Barissi and Farida Taher Sheeh (both Indian) were executed for murder on September 11, 1988.
- Executions were carried out privately within Central Prison using British-style hanging.

Malaysia

Lim Beng Nooi, 52, became the first woman executed under Malaysia’s strict anti-drug laws on November 8, 1982.
- She was arrested with 974 grams of heroin.
Tan Mer was executed on July 3, 1987, for drug trafficking.
Thye Siew Hong and her husband, Lim Re Song (both 40), were hanged together on February 20, 1983, in Pudu prison for possessing nine hand grenades under the Internal Security Act.
Hau Tsui Ling, 33, along with seven men including her boyfriend, were executed on May 29, 1990, at their request, in Kajang prison.
- Arrested in 1982 at Penang airport with 28 lbs of heroin, convicted in 1985.
Tan Bee Lee was hanged for drug offenses on July 29, 1994.
Malaysian executions use a British-style noose and measured drop and are carried out in private.

Rwanda

Virginie Mukankusi, a school inspector in Kigali, was executed by firing squad with three men outside Kigali on April 24, 1998, for genocide.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has executed women by both public beheading and shooting within prisons, both allowed under Saudi law. Shooting appears mainly used in the Asir province. The handcuffed prisoner has a circle drawn on their back over the heart and is shot by a single executioner firing two or three bullets from behind, probably with an automatic pistol.

Notable Executions

Yenida Rena Linda (Philippines) – executed by shooting on March 10, 1989, in Riyadh for murder.
Nasir bin ‘Ali al-Mari – beheaded for murder on January 5, 1990.
Aishah bint Jaber bin Ahmed bin ‘Issa (Yemeni) – beheaded in Riyadh on September 18, 1992, for murder.
Noura bint Ubeid bin Aqla Al-Zuebi and Aisha bint Muhammed bin Daydan bin Aqla Al-Zuebi (mother and daughter) – beheaded on December 11, 1992, for murdering Noura’s husband.
Rani bint Khamisullah Bashak (Pakistani born) – beheaded for murder on January 15, 1993.
Salwa bint Mohamed bin ‘Ali (Egyptian) – beheaded in Dhahran for murder on January 29, 1993.
Jumu’a bint ‘Abdelkhaleq bin Mifreh al-Ghamdi – beheaded in Baha on February 12, 1993, for murder.
Eleanor Akola (Filipino maid) – executed for murder on May 7, 1993.
Konti Vidarati Tonotini (Indonesian born) – beheaded in Mecca for murder on October 7, 1994.
Fatima bint ‘Abdullah (Saudi born) – executed for drug offenses on March 27, 1995.
Mubarak bin Masoud al-Masoud (Saudi) – beheaded for murder on June 27, 1995.
Laila bint ‘Abdulmajid bin ‘Abdulhamid and Husein bin Ahmed al-Nass – executed for murder on August 11, 1995.
Rabi bint Mohamed bin Hamid (Nigerian) – executed for drug offenses on August 25, 1995.
Dal Feroza Dilawer (Pakistani) – executed for drug offenses on September 25, 1995.
Zaferah bint Saeed bin Mohamed al-Saleem – shot on August 18, 1996, in Najran for shooting her husband three times while he was asleep.
Bakhtawar Ghazi Khan and Sabati Khatoun Maghrabi (Pakistanis) – executed for drug offenses in Jeddah on November 26, 1996.
Zahra Isa Ali (Nigerian) – beheaded in Jeddah for drug offenses on June 30, 1997.
Bana Mohamed Adam (Nigerian) – executed in Jeddah for drug offenses on September 19, 1997.
Sulikah Anam Kafiran, 30, from East Java – beheaded in Mecca on October 30, 1997 for murdering her elderly female employer with an axe.
Hawa Awu Farouk (Nigerian born) – beheaded in Jeddah on May 28, 1999 for drug offenses.
Aisha Saadeh Kassem (Nigerian) – beheaded in Jeddah on July 16, 1999 for drug smuggling.
Safira Onnabi Salami (Nigerian) – executed on September 3, 1999 for drug offenses.
Carlito Soriya (Filipino) – beheaded on October 8, 1999 for stabbing a Saudi to death following a dispute.

Sierra Leone

Major Kula Samba was shot for treason on October 20, 1998, the only reported female execution for this offense in Sierra Leone.

Singapore

Singapore has practiced strict gender equality in the application of the death penalty. Eleven women were hanged in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Six were executed for drug trafficking under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1973/75.
Five were executed for murder.
Executions are carried out before dawn on Fridays at Changi Prison, often in groups of up to seven, with men and women hanged together by the long drop method.
Bodies are returned to relatives for burial.
Executions are rarely reported unless the prisoner is not Singaporean.

Women Executed for Drug Trafficking

Mimi Sim, 34, first woman executed on July 27, 1973, with her husband for murder.
Cheuk Mei-mei, Hong Kong born, 29, executed March 3, 1994, first woman to die for drug trafficking.
Elke Tsang Kai Mong, Hong Kong born, executed December 16, 1994.
Angel Mou Pui-Peng, 25, from Macau, executed January 6, 1995, allowed one-week stay for Christmas as a Christian.
Tong Ching-man, 24, and Poon Yuen-chung, 22, both from Hong Kong, executed April 21, 1995, for crimes committed at age 18.
Navarat Maykha, Thai national, 32, executed September 28, 1996.

Women Executed for Murder

Catherine Tan Mui Choo, 34, and Hoe Kah Hong, 33, hanged alongside Adrian Lim on November 25, 1988, for the Toa Payoh ritual murders of two children.
Flor Contemplacion, 42, Filipina maid, executed March 17, 1995, amid protests; convicted of double murder of another Filipina maid and a child.
Teo Kim Hong, 36, prostitute, hanged September 6, 1996, for stabbing another prostitute.
Gerardine Andrew, 36, executed February 26, 1999, for her part in the murder of her landlady.

South Africa

The last female execution was Sandra Smith, 25, on June 2, 1989, hanged with co-defendant Yassiem Harris for murder in 1986.
She was the last of 14 women executed between 1959 and 1989, all for murder.
The previous three women executed were:
- Roos de Vos on December 12, 1986.
- Tryphinah Mthembu on August 30, 1985.
- Maria Mahloo on March 22, 1984.

South Korea

On December 30, 1997, South Korea hanged five unnamed women and 18 men for various murders.
These were the first reported female hangings since two unidentified women were hanged on December 18, 1991, also for murder.
A measured drop method is used and executions are carried out in private prisons.
No executions of either sex have been reported since.

Swaziland

The only known female execution was Philippa Mdluli, 48, on July 2, 1983.
She was hanged at Sidwashini Prison in Mbabane, the capital, for ritual murder of her servant’s two-year-old daughter.
Convicted in 1982 for enticing an employee to give up his five-year-old daughter, who was killed for ritual purposes.
Some of the victim’s body parts were removed to “enhance” Mdluli’s restaurant business.

Taiwan

Chen Kao Lien-Yeh (Fangliao Township, Pingtung County) was shot before dawn on July 9, 1989 in Tainan Prison for murdering seven children by poisoning cookies and drinks with potassium cyanide in 1985 and 1986.
- She confessed jealousy over other families’ happiness after losing her reproductive ability in 1973 due to uterine disease.
Yang Li-Hua (Taipei) was shot to death in Taipei Detention Center on July 21, 1990 for murdering her creditor in February 1989 over a NT$5 million debt.

Thailand

Samai Pan-intara, 59, was executed by machine gun on November 23, 1999, in Bangkwang prison for heroin trafficking.
She was executed together with two male murderers.
She was the first woman executed in Thailand in over 20 years.
At least 11 other women were on death row at that time.

United Arab Emirates

Sithi Faruk, 18, from Sri Lanka, was executed by firing squad in April 1995 for murdering her employer’s baby.
Zainab Ramadan Zaki, Egyptian born, was executed by firing squad on December 23, 1997, in Ras Al Khaimah for premeditated stabbing murder of her Emirates husband.
- Her six children insisted on the sentence being carried out; they could have spared her under Islamic law.

Vietnam

Vietnam has executed women publicly by firing squad, mainly for drug offenses.
On March 3, 1998, Lai Thi Ngan, the only woman among seven members of a drug ring, was tied to a wooden stake and shot at 5:30 a.m. at a firing range in Hanoi by five policemen.

Country	Common Method(s)
Afghanistan	Shooting, stoning
China	Shooting, lethal injection
Chechnya	Firing squad
Egypt	Hanging
Iran	Hanging (public/private)
Japan	Hanging (measured drop)
Jordan	Hanging (British style)
Malaysia	Hanging
Pakistan	Hanging
Russia (pre-1996)	Shooting (to the head)
Saudi Arabia	Beheading, firing squad
Singapore	Hanging
Sudan	Hanging, stoning
Thailand	Firing squad, lethal injection
USA	Lethal injection, electrocution
Yemen	Shooting

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