Real facts about Two Bangladeshis Executed in Makkah, avoid rumors.

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On the evening of 14 October 2026, a phone rang in a village in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh. The call lasted only a few minutes. But it ended three years of waiting for one family. Their son was dead, executed more than 5,000 km away in Saudi Arabia.

Just three days earlier, he had called his mother. That call lasted about two minutes. Nobody in the family knew it would be the last one.

Since then, social media has been full of claims about this case. Some are true. Many are not. So I went through Saudi official statements, Bangladeshi newspapers, international news agencies and statements from Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry. Here is what really happened, what is still unknown, and what every expat in the Gulf should learn from it.

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What Saudi Arabia officially announced

On Wednesday, 14 October 2026, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior issued a short statement through the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA). It said two Bangladeshi nationals had been executed in the Makkah region.

The ministry named them as Nazerul Islam Abdul Basir, a man, and Siti Akhter, a woman. Bangladeshi media spell the names Nazrul Islam and Sweety Akhter.

According to the statement, the two were arrested by Saudi security forces after committing an “immoral act” inside a mosque in Makkah. The case went to court. The court found the charges proven. Higher judicial authorities upheld the verdict, and a royal order approved the execution.

We first reported the Saudi announcement here when it came out.

What does “ta’zir” mean?

The court gave the death sentence under ta’zir. In Islamic law, some crimes have fixed punishments. Ta’zir is different. It means the judge decides the punishment based on how serious the crime is.

In this case, the ministry said the judge looked at two things: how serious the act was, and the fact that it broke the “sanctity of time and place”. In simple words, the court treated the location, a mosque in the holiest city in Islam, as a major reason for the harsh sentence.

The questions the statement did not answer

Here is where the mystery begins. The official statement is very short. It does not say:

What exactly the “immoral act” was
Which mosque it happened in
When the two were arrested
When the trial took place

A message from Bangladesh’s labour wing in Saudi Arabia, quoted by Prothom Alo, described the act as “adultery”. But that word does not appear in the Saudi statement. So far, no official document has been made public that explains the case in detail.

Who was Nazrul Islam?

Bangladesh’s leading newspaper Prothom Alo spoke to his family in Brahmanbaria Sadar. Their story gives the case a human face.

Age: He was 25 years old, the eldest of four children.
Education: He passed the Dakhil exam from a local madrasa in 2020 and later joined a college.
Going abroad: He left for Saudi Arabia in November 2022. His father, who had himself worked in Saudi Arabia for 24 years, borrowed Tk 6 lakh from relatives to send him.
His job: He worked as a cleaner at Masjid al-Haram, the Grand Mosque in Makkah.
Arrest: About eight months after he arrived, Saudi police arrested him. The family only found out a month later.
Prison years: He was allowed short phone calls home, about once a month. His last call was on 11 October.

His mother told the newspaper that the charges against her son are false. His cousins said he had a dispute with a Pakistani co-worker, and they believe this led to a plot against him. This is the family’s claim. It has not been confirmed by any official source.

The tragedy did not end with the phone call. According to the family, Nazrul’s aunt fainted when she heard the news and died that same night.

Very little is known about the second person, Sweety Akhter. No newspaper has yet published details about her age, home town or family.

Bangladesh says it was never told

This is the part that has angered many people in Bangladesh. According to Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry, neither the ministry nor the Bangladesh mission in Saudi Arabia was informed before the executions. The consulate in Jeddah learned the news from the media, on the same day.

Since then, Dhaka has taken these steps:

The Bangladesh Consulate General in Jeddah sent a formal diplomatic note to the Saudi Foreign Ministry, asking it to acknowledge the matter.
Secretary (East and West) Dr Md Nazrul Islam met the Saudi Ambassador in Dhaka and asked for detailed information. Officials said the ambassador was not summoned.
State Minister Humaiun Kobir called the executions “very disappointing” but described Saudi Arabia as a friendly country. He pointed to gaps in information-sharing.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam said the government is still waiting for the verdict copy, and called the case “a major lesson for us”.

We covered Dhaka’s reaction in our earlier report: Bangladesh says Saudi executed two Bangladeshis without notice.

Was there a fair chance to defend?

Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh have both signed the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Under this treaty, when a foreigner is arrested, police must tell them that they can ask for their embassy to be informed. If the person asks, the embassy must be told without delay.

In this case, it is still not clear whether the two were told about this right, or whether they asked for it. Prothom Alo reported, citing unnamed sources, that the trial took place in a court in Jeddah over several months, with two Bangladeshis acting as interpreters. Anonymous officials at the Foreign Ministry told the paper they were puzzled that no one connected to the detainees ever contacted the mission.

The rumours you should not believe

While researching this story, I found several claims on social media that no reliable source supports:

“They were a married couple.” No official or news source has confirmed this.
“Two men were executed.” A few reports said this, but the names and most news outlets show it was a man and a woman.
“It happened on Monday.” The Saudi announcement came on Wednesday, 14 October.

The bigger picture: a record number of executions

This case did not happen alone. Saudi Arabia has been carrying out executions at record levels:

2024: 338 executions, a record at the time (AFP tally)
2025: 356 executions, a new record (AFP tally). Most were for drug-related crimes.
2026: more than 170 executions so far this year, according to the Interior Ministry figures reported by AP

Human rights groups say that in 2025, for the first time, more foreigners were executed in the kingdom than Saudi citizens. Amnesty International and other groups have raised concerns about fair trials for foreign workers who do not speak Arabic.

Why this matters to millions of Bangladeshis

Bangladeshis are the largest expat community in Saudi Arabia, with about 3.5 million people, according to Arab News. In 2025 alone, a record of more than 750,000 Bangladeshi workers went to the kingdom. Many work in jobs like cleaning, construction and services, including at the holy mosques.

For them, this case raises a worrying question: if something goes wrong, will their family and their embassy even know?

Saudi Arabia is also tightening rules for foreign residents. Read more in what Saudi Arabia’s latest visa crackdown means.

Lessons for every expat in the Gulf

Whether you live in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or another Gulf country, this case is a reminder:

Gulf laws are strict, especially in holy places. Acts that may seem minor elsewhere can carry the heaviest punishments, particularly in Makkah and Madinah.
If you are arrested, ask for your embassy. You have the right to ask the police to inform your embassy or consulate.
Keep your family informed. Make sure someone at home has your employer’s details and your embassy’s phone number.
Register with your embassy if your country offers this service.
Don’t share rumours. Fake stories hurt the families who are already suffering.

If you are planning Umrah, read about the new live crowd tracker for the Grand Mosque, and always follow the rules inside the holy mosques.

What happens next?

Three questions are still open:

The verdict copy: Bangladesh is waiting for the official court documents. Only these can explain what the court actually decided.
The bodies: Nazrul’s father has said he only wants to see his son’s body one last time. The government says it will know how the bodies can be returned once Saudi Arabia replies.
Consular notice: Dhaka wants to know why its mission was not informed before the execution.

We will update this story when Saudi Arabia or Bangladesh shares more information. Follow Kuwait Upto Date for the latest Gulf news that matters to expats.

Quick answers

Who were the two Bangladeshis executed in Saudi Arabia?
Saudi Arabia named them as Nazerul (Nazrul) Islam Abdul Basir, 25, from Brahmanbaria, and Siti (Sweety) Akhter.

When were they executed?
The Saudi Interior Ministry announced it on Wednesday, 14 October 2026, in the Makkah region.

What was the charge?
An “immoral act” inside a mosque in Makkah. The official statement did not give more details.

Was Bangladesh informed?
No. Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry says neither it nor its mission in Saudi Arabia was told before the executions.