Fact Check: Barbaric beheading video UNRELATED to execution of Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia

This video dates back to January 2015 and shows the beheading of a Myanmar woman in Saudi Arabia for reportedly killing her husband's daughter.

India Today Fact Check

Claim
This video shows two Bangladeshi nationals being beheaded in Saudi Arabia on October 14, 2026, for committing an indecent act inside a mosque.

Fact
This video dates back to 2015 and shows the public beheading of a Myanmar woman in Saudi Arabia.

A chilling video of a burqa-clad woman being beheaded by a man in Arabic attire went viral following the October 14 execution of two Bangladeshi nationals in Saudi Arabia.

Nazrul Islam and Sweety Akhtar were reportedly executed in Mecca after being accused of committing an indecent act inside a mosque.

An X user shared the video with the caption, “BREAKING: Reports claim that two Bangladeshi nationals were executed by beheading in Saudi Arabia for sexual offences.”

India Today Fact Check found that this video is more than a decade old.

OUR PROBE

A reverse search of the video’s frames led us to a Daily Mail report from January 23, 2015, that said the video showed the beheading of a Myanmar woman called Layla bint Abdul Mutaleb Bassim. According to a CNN report, the woman was found guilty of raping her stepdaughter with a broomstick and then beating her to death.

The incident was met with widespread condemnation. The person who filmed the execution was later arrested by Saudi authorities.

BANGLADESH NOT INFORMED

Bangladesh has said it was not informed about the execution of its citizens in Mecca. The execution has reportedly raised major concerns for more than three million Bangladeshis who live and work in Saudi Arabia.

According to the Saudi interior ministry, the two Bangladeshi nationals were handed death sentences because of the severity of the offence, and for violating the "sanctity" of the mosque. However, the exact nature of their crime and the method of their execution had not been reported at the time of writing this.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN SAUDI

According to Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia executed more than 356 people in 2025. The group’s report about death penalties in 2025 counted at least 2,707 executions across 17 countries, an increase of 78 per cent from 2024. The highest number of executions were recorded in China (1000s), Iran (2,159+), Saudi Arabia, Yemen (51+), and the USA (47).

An Associated Press report from October 19 said that so far this year, more than 170 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia, according to its interior ministry.

Thus, it’s clear that the video does not show the October 2026 execution of two Bangladeshi nationals in Saudi Arabia.

- Ends