(IsraelNN.com) Saudi Arabia not only continues to deserve its title as the world's "beheading capital," but has now also sentenced a rape victim to 200 lashes.

On Sunday, Saudi Arabian authorities carried out the kingdom's 136th beheading of the year, surpassing by far its combined totals for the two previous years. The latest victim was a man convicted of murdering another with an assault rifle.

Saudi Arabia often defends its practice of beheading by explaining that it follows an interpretation of the Quran by which the crimes of murder, drug trafficking, rape and armed robbery are punished by public execution with a sword.  Those convicted of sodomy, apostasy and certain other offences can also be beheaded in the kingdom.

Nearly 40 people were beheaded in Saudia Arabia in 2006, including four women, and between 83 and 90 the year before, including two women.

Rape Victim Sentenced to 90, Then 200, Lashes
Just a week earlier, a woman who was gang-raped over a year ago in the Saudi capital of Riyadh was sentenced to six months in jail and 200 lashes.  Her crime: Being in the car of a man who was not a relative. 

She had initially been sentenced to 90 lashes on charges of violating the rigid Saudi laws on segregation of the sexes. However, the number of lashes was more than doubled because of her "attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media," ArabNews reported.  Her lawyer's license to practice law was confiscated, and he has been summoned to a disciplinary hearing, after expressing public criticism of the original verdict.

The seven men convicted of raping the 19-year-old were not beheaded, but rather sentenced to between two and nine years in prison.  Three of the convicts were also convicted of raping her male companion.

The Saudi Arabian flag features a sword underneath the Arabic inscrption, "There is no G-d but Allah, and Muhammad is his Messenger."