Pak propaganda? Copy-paste posts blame Indian after Saudi executes 2 Bangladeshis

It's been a week since Saudi Arabia executed two Bangladeshi citizens, Nazrul Islam Abdul Bashir and Sweety Akhtar, over alleged "immoral acts" in Mecca. Neither their families nor the Bangladeshi government were informed in advance, with both learning of the executions through media reports and social media posts. As their remains are yet to be returned and Dhaka continues to press Riyadh for details, near-identical posts are proliferating online, pushing unverified claims about an Indian man's alleged involvement in the case.Little is publicly known about the specific acts that led to their executions. Saudi authorities said the two were convicted by a court, but have not publicly disclosed detailed information about the alleged offence or the evidence against them.According to a confidential memo from the Bangladesh Consulate General in Jeddah, obtained by The Daily Star, both Nazrul and Sweety were employed as cleaners by Saudi company Al Majal. A prisoner list received by the consulate on September 30 showed that Nazrul had been detained on August 1, 2023, under Saudi Arabia's cybercrime law, while Sweety was detained the following day on allegations of adultery.Both families have disputed the charges against Nazrul and Sweety. Nazrul's relatives told Prothom Alo that he was the victim of a conspiracy allegedly hatched by a Pakistani co-worker. Sweety's family, meanwhile, said she was arrested after some of her female co-workers allegedly bought a car illegally. Neither account has been independently verified. The lack of official information has fuelled rampant speculation about what Nazrul and Sweety allegedly did and the nature of their relationship. India Today Digital's earlier coverage of the case noted claims circulating on social media that the two were married and that their offence amounted, at most, to kissing each other on the forehead in Mecca. Both families have rejected these claims, saying the two did not know each other.Since then, increasingly lurid accounts of the alleged incident have proliferated online. One post, originally shared by a Pakistan-based X account, is now being reproduced verbatim by accounts based in Bangladesh, Pakistan and several African countries. Among other allegations, the post accuses an Indian man of being responsible for Nazrul and Sweety's deaths. Near-identical posts are proliferating online among Pakistani and Bangladeshi accounts, pushing unverified claims about an Indian man's alleged involvement in the case. WHAT ARE THE POSTS SHARED BY PAKISTANIS CLAIMING?The posts in question, which entered circulation on Tuesday, October 20, claim that Nazrul and Sweety, who worked as cleaners at Mecca's Masjid al-Haram, developed a romantic relationship and engaged in adultery in a secluded room between gates 85 and 87 of the mosque. The posts allege that Nazrul asked an Indian friend to stand guard while he and Sweety were together, and that the friend recorded the encounter.According to the posts, the Indian man later circulated the video after failing to pursue a relationship with Sweety himself. The posts claim that Saudi authorities arrested all three, sentencing the Indian man to 20 years in prison while eventually handing Nazrul and Sweety death sentences for violating the sanctity of the Grand Mosque.The posts also insist that claims that the couple had merely kissed during Umrah are "completely false and fabricated." It further asserts that the Saudi Supreme Court deemed capital punishment an appropriate "exemplary punishment" for their alleged actions.These claims remain unverified. Riyadh's limited public disclosures have left significant gaps in the account of the case, creating room for such speculation. But the detailed narrative in these posts goes well beyond what has been established publicly. No available official record substantiates the allegations against the Indian man, including the claim that he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Nor has the detailed account of the alleged incident been independently corroborated.I had no intention of discussing this filthy and shameful matter, but I am compelled to post in protest against the spread of false and fabricated stories. Two individuals from Bangladesh, Nazrul Islam and Sathi Akhtar. Both worked for the Bin Laden Company and were cleaners at the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca Mukarramah. The girl resided in Villa Batha Quraish, while the boy lived in Villa Hayy al-Iskan. During their duty, a romantic relationship developed between the two, and they committed adultery in a deserted room located on the stairs between gates 85 and 87 of the Masjid al-Haram. Nazrul Islam had instructed one of his Indian friends to stand guard below. That friend recorded a video of the incident. Later, when he himself expressed a desire to commit adultery with the girl but was unable to do so, or when neither consented, he made the video public. After that, the incident came into the public eye. Saudi authorities succeeded in arresting all three individuals. The Indian youth was sentenced to 20 years in prison and remains in jail. The other two were also kept in prison. Nazrul Islam had arrived in Saudi Arabia from Bangladesh between November 10 and 13, 2022. He committed this wrongful act in May 2023, after which Saudi authorities arrested him. He remained in prison from May 2023 to October 2026. The judicial proceedings of this case lasted approximately three and a half to four years. During this time, it is the responsibility of the Saudi government to inform the sponsor and the company. It is not their responsibility to notify people from other countries about it. Many people are claiming that the two had gone for Umrah and had merely kissed there. All these stories are completely false and fabricated. It is true that both were unmarried. But the question here is: even though they were unmarried, why were they sentenced to death? Do you know why? Because this is the Masjid al-Haram. The matter here is not limited to just the punishment for adultery; rather, the individual also violated the sanctity and honor of the Masjid al-Haram. For this very reason, to set an exemplary punishment, the senior judges of the Supreme Court deemed the death penalty appropriate as a deterrent measure and pronounced the same sentence. This punishment is in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah. The most astonishing thing is that even today, we continue to shamelessly spread lies about this matter. Atheist individuals from both the right and left wings in Bangladesh are saying all this, and even some of those who advocate for the implementation of Islamic law in Bangladesh are opposing this decision. May Almighty Allah guide us, Ameen.— $ULTAN (@Sarki_sultan) October 20, 2026The posts initially circulated among Pakistani and Bangladeshi accounts on Facebook and X. Among those sharing the claims was Farhan Kiyani, identified as the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's youth wing in Riyadh. The narrative subsequently appeared verbatim on accounts based in other countries, including Nigeria and Afghanistan.The text also found its way into a publication. Hajj Reporters, a relatively obscure news portal, published a version of the account under the headline "The Inside Story: Why Two Bangladeshi Were Given Death Sentences." The article repeated the allegations, including that an Indian individual was responsible for the pair's apprehension, but did not provide independent evidence to substantiate them.In any case, endless speculation and the trading of accusations do little to clarify what happened. Whatever Nazrul and Sweety did or did not do, they were executed for an alleged non-violent offence. Capital punishment remains widely used in Saudi Arabia, which executed more than 300 people in 2025, many for drug-related offences. But that does not make the circumstances of these executions any less deserving of scrutiny.Why did Riyadh not inform Dhaka before carrying out the executions, and why has it yet to provide the information Bangladesh requested? And why did Dhaka, which reportedly knew of Nazrul and Sweety's year-long incarceration, fail to obtain further details about their cases or intervene diplomatically before it was too late? These are the questions that demand answers, not the unverified allegations proliferating on social media.- Ends