New Delhi. The story of Sweety Akhtar, a resident of Bangladesh, is full of struggle and pain. She had gone to Saudi Arabia to improve the future of her nine-year-old daughter and improve the economic condition of the family. She hoped that by working abroad she would be able to give a good life to her daughter and bring the family out of poverty. But the dream for which he left his home to fulfill became the most painful chapter of his life. Sweety, who worked in Saudi Arabia, was given death sentence on charges of adultery. The most surprising thing is that he had a conversation with his father just a day before his hanging, but during that time he did not tell the family anything about his punishment.
Sweety Akhtar was a resident of Nagar Chhawali village of Mirzapur Upazila in Tangail district of central Bangladesh. His father Fazal Mia works as a daily wage laborer and mother's name is Johora Begum. The life of Sweety, the youngest among five sisters, was surrounded by difficulties since childhood. She was married when she was studying in eighth grade. After the end of her first marriage, she returned to her parents' home with her daughter. Under pressure from her family, she married again but her second husband also left her. Constantly breaking relationships and financial troubles forced him to look for a job abroad.
The family had taken a loan of about 1.5 lakh taka to send Sweety to Saudi Arabia. In March 2023, she reached Saudi Arabia through a registered recruitment agency and started working as a cleaner in the Grand Mosque of Mecca. She kept sending money home for the first five to six months. This gave hope to the family that now their problems would be reduced and their daughter's future would be secure. But after some time the money stopped coming. The family later learns that Sweety has been jailed.
According to media reports, Sweety was detained on August 2, 2023 on charges of adultery. Nazrul Islam Abdul Basir, a Bangladeshi national who worked with him, was also arrested. Sweety was kept in Jeddah women's prison. However, he had told his father a different reason for his arrest. His family feared that he had been wrongly implicated in the case. The family did not have complete information about these allegations and the circumstances of the case.
During her stay in jail, Sweety used to call her home sometimes every week and sometimes at an interval of a month. The family knew that he was in jail but they had no idea that the matter had become so serious. According to her father, he last spoke to his daughter after Maghrib prayers on October 13. During the conversation, Sweety neither mentioned the trial nor expressed the fear of death penalty. The family was hopeful that she would come out of jail soon.
On October 14, the hanging of Sweety Akhtar and Nazrul Islam was announced in Saudi Arabia. The family did not get this information directly from the authorities but the news of the death came to light through a Facebook video. The diplomatic mission of Bangladesh had also said that it was not informed about this before the hanging. Bangladesh later asked for copies of judicial decisions and information related to the case.
Sweety's mother is pleading to bring her daughter's body back to Bangladesh so that she can see her face for the last time. The family which had taken a loan and sent him abroad in the hope of a better life is now in deep shock. For his younger daughter and family left behind, this incident has become such a pain that it will not be easy to compensate.