Pakistan hangs 3 rapists

Three Pakistanis convicted of gang-raping a housewife at gunpoint were hanged yesterday, officials said.

The men were executed at the central jail in Bahawalpur, a rural town in central Punjab province, a superintendent at the prison told AFP by telephone.

They had broken into the victim's home in 1998, held her hostage with her husband and eight-year-old son then tied her up and assaulted her, he said.

Gang-rape is punishable by death under special laws introduced by Pakistan in 1993.