Isis 'throw man off a building for homosexual affair' and beat him to death when he survives

Isis militants allegedly threw a man charged with having an affair with another man off the top of a building and then beat him to death when he survived the fall, a human rights watchdog has claimed.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) quoted a source as saying the man was killed in the Tal Abyad town in Raqqa, an Isis stronghold. The Observatory obtains its information from a network of activists on the ground.

The man’s reported death follows a spate of executions within a 24-hour period earlier this month, which included two men accused of homosexual acts reportedly being thrown off a building. A series of photos were released via the “Information Office of the mandate of Nineveh” claiming to show militants administering 'hudud' (fixed punishments).

The images appeared to show the men at the top of a large tower overlooking Ninevah, a city in Iraq. One image showed a man falling towards the ground, where a large crowd appears to be controlled by a line of militants.

In December, Isis released a copy of their penal code, which listed so-called ‘crimes’ punishable by amputation, stoning and crucifixion. Some of the crimes included homosexuality and 'spying for the unbelievers', both of which were deemed punishable by death.

The Observatory reports the extremist group has executed 35 people in January alone in Syria, including 22 civilians.

On Friday, the Observatory said militants attempted to stone a woman to death in Raqqa on charges of adultery – but she apparently survived.

Sources said militants stoned her in al- Ferdos Street until they believed her to be dead, but the woman had actually survived and escaped the militants. One militant tried to shoot her but an Isis-appointed Sharia judge intervened, saying her “her sentence is done - let her go and repent to her God”, according to the SOHR.

The reported killing comes after Human Rights Watch lambasted the group in its annual report but also criticized the "sectarian and abusive" policies of the Syrian and Iraqi governments, saying they fuel extremism.