SINGAPORE: Singapore on Friday hanged a 45-year-old citizen for drug trafficking, the city-state’s first execution of a woman in nearly 20 years, officials said.

The execution was carried out despite appeals from rights groups, who argue capital punishment has no proven deterrent effect on crime.

“The capital sentence of death imposed on Saridewi Binte Djamani was carried out on 28 July 2023,” the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement. She was convicted of trafficking “not less than 30.72 grams” of heroin, more than twice the volume that merits the death penalty in Singapore.