Two Bangladeshi Nationals Executed in Saudi Arabia Over "Indecent Acts" at a Mosque; Prison Documents Reveal Couple Was Not Officially Charged With Death Sentence

A CONFIDENTIAL MEMO RECEIVED from the Bangladesh Consulate General in Jeddah has revealed that the cause of the execution of two Bangladeshi nationals, on October 14, 2026, was their alleged involvement in indecent practices at a mosque, was different from the charges both had in the prisoners list, the consulate general got in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on September 30 2026, according to The Daily Star

Prior to this development, the Saudi Ministry of Interior said that both the man and woman were awarded the death sentence under  ta’zir, a form of punishment in Islamic law where the judge decides the offence and the sentence. The ministry did not disclose any details about the act it enforced, the exact mosque where the alleged crime happened and when the man and woman got arrested. Bangladesh says Saudi Arabia had not informed it about the execution and has asked for details of the case.

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The ministry named the two as Nazrul Islam Abdul Basir and Siti Akhtar, both Bangladeshi nationals, in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency according to Gulf News. Various media reports also claimed them to be a couple but according to The Week it is not clear if they had been married to each other.

In a prisoners list, the consulate got on September 30, 2026 it was mentioned that Nazrul was caught on August 1, 2023, almost three years ago under Saudi Arabia’s cybercrime law and following a day later, Suety was also detained on charges of adultery.

According to the memo, Nazrul and Suety were held respectively at Jeddah Correctional Facility and Jeddah Women's Prison. Both were once also employed as cleaners for Al Majal Company.

Saudi Arabia Allegedly Never Informed Bangladesh About the Execution 

According to The Daily Star the consulate general of Bangladesh was not informed about the execution. Bangladesh got to know about the execution from other media reports, Prothom Alo reported.

Bangladesh has issued a note verbale, used for the diplomatic means, to the Saudi foreign ministry seeking their for formal acknowledgement on the matter concerned.

Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Shama Obaed Islam, said the government is looking forward to getting a reply from Saudi Arabia about the nature of crime and legal process, the BBC reports. 

The Daily Star further reported that both were included in the list of prisoners. 

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Saudi Arabia shared with Bangladesh when the request from Jeddah consulate was made. 

The list never showed that they were sentenced to death. A trial of both was in progress in a Jeddah court for several months. But it is still a mystery whether the two were allowed to have a lawyer or could even make an appeal, according to the Dhaka Tribune. Both Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia shared parties in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

(Edited by Harsh Pandey)

[Rh/GS/HP]

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