Five bodies hang from a pole suspended between two cranes (bottom left), a public display which serves as a reminder to those who might contemplate a life of crime. They belonged to a gang of five robbers, all of whom were publicly beheaded before their corpses were hoisted high in the air, where they remained for days.
The gruesome sight is one scene in a shocking documentary to be aired this week which sheds light on life in Saudi Arabia, one of the world's bloodiest and most secretive countries. The film, Saudi Arabia Uncovered, contains harrowing footage of beheadings.
A woman dressed in black (top left) is held down at the side of a public road by four Saudi policemen, after she has been convicted of killing her stepdaughter. In another beheading scene, the executioner, dressed in the white robes typically worn by Saudi men, raises his curved sword above his head and brings it down in a single sweep (right).
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