There is outrage over Saudi Arabia executing two Bangladeshi nationals accused of committing immoral acts in a mosque in the holy city of Mecca. The executions have raised questions about their alleged crimes, the opacity of the process, the fairness of their trials and whether Dhaka was informed beforehand and could have anyway helped save the couple.

The two were executed on October 14 for "immoral acts" inside a mosque in Mecca, according to Saudi media reports. Neither did the reports specify those "immoral acts" nor were there any details from Saudi authorities.

Saudi Arabia is among the world's most prolific users of capital punishment. Human Rights Watch reported at least 356 executions in 2025, most for non-violent drug-related offences. This came despite Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman saying in a 2022 interview that the death penalty had been restricted to murder cases.

Saudi Arabia imposes death sentences under three broad categories of Islamic law: qisas (retribution, primarily for murder), hudud (punishments proscribed for specific offences) and ta'zir (discretionary punishments, including for drug trafficking and other crimes).The two Bangladeshis were sentenced to death under ta'zir.

Their sentences were reportedly upheld by the relevant judicial authorities, followed by a royal order authorising their execution in the Mecca region.

This is the second case related to death sentences of foreign citizens in Saudi Arabia. A Sri Lankan Hindu immigrant, Anojan Sivarasa, was recently sentenced to death for blasphemy, before having his conviction overturned, thanks to Colombo's intervention.

All this being said, there is very little clarity on what it was that the two Bangladeshi nationals did that led to their deaths.

First, it was an alleged "immoral act", the reports circulated that they were kissing in the mosque, and subsequently claims on social media that it was just a kiss on the forehead. Riyadh has volunteered little information beyond the fact that they were executed, and that has added to the furore.WHO WERE THE BANGLADESHI CITIZENS EXECUTED, AND WHAT WAS THEIR CRIME? Saudi Arabian media reports, citing the Interior Ministry, identified the two individuals as Nazrul Islam Abdul Basir and Siti Akhtar.

They were accused of committing "immoral acts" inside a mosque in the holy city of Mecca.

That is virtually all the information Riyadh has disclosed. Saudi authorities have not publicly detailed the alleged acts, when the two were arrested or how their trials were conducted.

Several people on social media have speculated that the two were a "couple" and that the alleged act involved them kissing each other on the forehead. This is however unclear in the absence of any official information from Riyadh. Moreover, Prothom Alo reported that Nazrul's family disputed these claims.

Nazrul, the eldest son of Abdul Bashir and Rahima Begum, was from Brahmanbaria Sadar upazila in Chattogram Division. He moved to Saudi Arabia in November 2022 and worked as a cleaner at Mecca's Masjid al-Haram. His family told Prothom Alo that police arrested him eight months later and that he remained in prison until his execution.

Relatives said they last spoke to Nazrul on October 11. Three days later, the family received a call informing them of his execution. His 65-year-old aunt, Abeda Begum, fainted on hearing the news and died later. Nazrul's family has stated that they had not received any prior notice.

His father, Abdul Basir, who himself worked in Saudi Arabia for 24 years, told The Daily Star that his son was not given a fair trial, stating, "If my son was executed without just cause, I want justice." Nazrul's relatives and friends questioned the allegations, describing him as polite and well-mannered. His cousins, Mostakim Bhuiyan and Imam Hasan Bhuiyan, told Prothom Alo that he had a dispute with a Pakistani co-worker and alleged that the individual had conspired against him.

His friend Rahat Bhuiyan said, "I cannot believe that he would do something like this." Maulana Naimur Rahman, superintendent of Nazrul's former madrasa, said, "No one could say that the boy was ill-mannered or bad. I never saw anything in his behaviour while he was in Bangladesh that would suggest what is now being said about him."WHO IS THE BANGLADESHI WOMAN WHO SAUDI ARABIA EXECUTED?

Little is publicly known about Siti Akhtar or her relationship with Nazrul either. The latter's father, Abdul Basir, told Jago News that he had sent his son abroad while he was still in college to support the family. He denied that Siti was Nazrul's wife, saying, "We do not even know her. I heard they worked at the same place." However, an unidentified family member told BBC Bangla that Nazrul had at one point confessed to having an "affair" with Siti.

As for the mortal remains of Nazrul Islam Abdul Basir and Siti Akhtar, Jago News reported Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury as saying on Monday that their repatriation had been delayed due to the suspension of air connectivity between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia.OUTRAGE OVER SAUDI ARABIA EXECUTING COUPLEThe execution of the two Bangladeshis has sparked outrage in the country and other parts of the world, with people questioning the opaque process." Let's call a spade a spade.

The execution of a young Bangladeshi couple in Saudi Arabia is a travesty of justice and lays bare the grotesque cancer that lies at the heart of that benighted country," wrote Zafar Sobhan, the founder editor of Counterpoint, a Bangladesh-based weekly newspaper. People refused to believe that it could be a simple kiss on the forehead for which the Bangladeshis could have been executed by Saudi Arabia. The outrage was also over the secrecy with which they were executed, and the limited information shared with the public."

There is absolutely no way anyone is executed in Saudi Arabia just for kissing their spouse. I have been to Saudi Arabia, and I have hugged and kissed my wife multiple times in the vicinity of the Grand Mosque in Mecca and i have seen multiple couples shown public displays of affection without any issue. The claim that they were executed for a 'forehead kiss' is absolute nonsense and pure internet fiction," said MC Alhaji, a blogger from Nigeria, on Facebook.

Alhaji said the Saudi authorities hadn't even released an official statement explaining the exact nature of the crime the Bangladeshis were convicted of.

Jobaer Alam from Bangladesh wrote on Facebook that the execution of the couple was "absolutely ridiculous and totally unacceptable".He spoke of how there was no clarity on what crimes they were convicted of and when the case was from."

One day you hear they intimated in an unknown masjid in Makkah another day you hear they kissed in the Masjid another day you hear they kissed in the forehead.

One day you hear they weren't related one day you hear they were couples another day you hear they were kept in cell from 2022," wrote Alam. He said all "this mess" had been caused as the Saudi Government hadn't given a "proper legitimate answer for their actions".Rahyan Rashid, a lawyer based in Oxford, UK, pointed out seven loopholes in the Saudi process, and said it should "outrage" people."

Whatever one thinks of the alleged act, this should outrage anyone who believes in due process. Two lives were taken through a process no one outside the Saudi system was allowed to see," wrote Rashid on X. He added that the families and Dhaka were informed only after the executions.WAS BANGLADESH INFORMED OF THE ARRESTS AND THE EXECUTION? Writing in a post on Facebook, lawyer and transitional justice advocate Rayhan Rashid said Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations requires detained foreign nationals to be informed of their consular rights, while Article 37 requires host countries to notify consulates without delay of a foreign national’s death.

However, The Daily Star reported that Bangladesh's consulate general in Jeddah received a list of all imprisoned citizens in September, containing the names of Nazrul Islam Abdul Basir and Siti Akhtar. Their alleged offences were listed as "adultery" and "ICT", but their death sentences were not mentioned. The consulate also said neither had sought consular assistance.

While Nazrul's family was aware of the arrest, as they told Prothom Alo, it is yet unclear if Dhaka had also been informed when he was first apprehended. Dhaka was also not informed of the executions beforehand and learnt of them through media reports, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam told reporters on Saturday. Bangladesh subsequently sought an explanation from Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Dhaka, Abdullah Zafer H bin Abiyah, while the Foreign Ministry had earlier sent a note verbale seeking formal acknowledgement.

Shama told reporters on Saturday that Dhaka was still awaiting detailed official information from Riyadh, including the circumstances of the executions and details of the two citizens’ employment and stay in Saudi Arabia. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir described the executions as "very disappointing", The Daily Star reported on Sunday, questioning why information had not been shared despite both countries being signatories to the Vienna Convention." So why was there a gap in the exchange of information? We have sought an explanation from Saudi Arabia," he said, adding that Bangladesh expected Riyadh to notify it of detained citizens, just as Dhaka would inform Saudi Arabia if its nationals were detained in Bangladesh.

In any case, the secret execution of two Bangladeshi citizens, without informing either their families or relevant authorities in Dhaka has led to an outpouring of outrage in Bangladesh and beyond. There is no clarity on what crimes the two had committed and if they had recourse to any fair legal process.- Ends