Mother slaps suspect then halts public execution

A photographer captured a rare and dramatic event in Iran’s Islamic republic. Balal was about to be executed for stabbing an 18-year-old man in a brawl. But on the day he was to be hanged in public, Balal was slapped in the face by the victim’s mother who decided to forgive him. The victim’s father then removed the noose around the neck of Balal, who was spared death. Balal’s mother went to the mother of the man her son had killed, and both hugged each other and sobbed, the Guardian reported.

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