Saudi Arabia executes two Bangladeshis convicted of sex in Mecca mosque

Saudi Arabia executed Nazrul Islam Abdul Basir and Siti Akhtar, two Bangladeshi nationals convicted of having sex inside a mosque in Mecca. The Interior Ministry said a court sentenced them to death under ta’zir, a form of discretionary punishment, and that the verdict was upheld before a royal order authorised the executions in the Makkah region. The ministry did not name the mosque or say when the pair were arrested. Bangladesh’s consulate general in Jeddah said it had not been notified beforehand and sent Saudi authorities a diplomatic note seeking formal acknowledgement.