cruel act

A rights group called their executions "a cruel act by a medieval regime".

"The execution of Yousef and Sadrollah for 'insulting the Prophet' is not only a cruel act by a medieval regime, it is also a serious insult to the freedom of expression," said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Norway-based group Iran Human Rights.

“Her life was ended way too short by a cruel act of violence that she did not deserve.”

An atrocity is “an extremely wicked or cruel act, typically one involving physical violence or injury.”

Opponents insist that humans hitting animals is a bad look and whipping horses is a cruel act.