Rape and killed 10-year-old, that's the tragic fate of three pedophiles.

Disturbing images show rapists in blue uniforms parading in front of crowds in the center of Sana, the capital and the country's largest city.

After being cuffed, they were ordered to stand down and were shot five times in the heart.

Their bodies were hung up in the air by a crane where they were left as a grim warning to other potential violators as viewers made photos on mobile phones.

Yemen, south of Saudi Arabia, is one of the world's leading executions with the death penalty for violent crimes, including murder, rape and terrorism.

The death penalty could theoretically be used in cases of Islamic wrongdoing, or 'Hududud' under Sheriat's law, such as adultery, sexual misconduct, homosexuality, prostitution, and blasphemy.

All sentences are carried out by gun shootings, stones, hangings, or beheadings, allowed within Yemen's penal code.