A Bangladeshi woman who was executed in Saudi Arabia had maintained regular contact with her family from prison, but never disclosed the exact reason for her detention, her family members have said.
The woman, who hailed from Mirzapur upazila of Tangail, went to Saudi Arabia about three and a half years ago through a registered recruitment agency, following the official procedures, according to her family.
The Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment has provided the media with the identities of two Bangladeshis executed in the Middle Eastern country.
Tangail Deputy Commissioner Abu Sayied said he learned the woman’s identity, address and father’s name on Tuesday. However, he had not received any instructions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment regarding the matter.
Her family said they learned of her execution on 14 October through a video shared on Facebook by one of her friends.
Her elder sister said the woman had regularly contacted the family after travelling to Saudi Arabia and informed them that she was in prison. However, she did not explain why she had been detained.
“She once told us that several women were staying in one room and that their employer had them all arrested over the purchase of a car,” her sister said, adding that the woman later refused to discuss the matter further.
The family learned of her imprisonment about six months after she arrived in Saudi Arabia.
Her father said she was divorced after two years of marriage and went to Saudi Arabia for work in 2023. She had no children of her own and was raising her sister’s daughter.
The woman regularly sent money home during the first six months of her stay, but the remittances stopped after she was imprisoned.
Her niece said the woman used to call from prison every 15 days or once a month. She last attempted to contact the family on 14 October but could not speak to them because of problems with the telephone line.
“We couldn’t talk on Wednesday [14 October]. She called on Tuesday [13 October] as well. If she had been sentenced to death, she would have told us, ‘I’m not doing well; I’ve been sentenced to death,’” the woman’s niece said.
DC Abu Sayied said the relevant ministries would be informed and necessary steps would be taken if the family applied to bring the woman’s body back to Bangladesh.
Source: BBC Bangla