Behrampore/Kolkata: Kohinoor Bibi has been worried sick ever since news of two Bangladeshi nationals being executed in Saudi Arabia reached her in Balarampur village, Murshidabad. Her son, 29-year-old Sahabuddin Sheikh, has been languishing in a prison in Mecca for the past three years and four months over a video which showed the executed duo inside a mosque. And now, Kohinoor fears the worst.Sahabuddin had travelled to Saudi Arabia in 2018 and taken up work as a cleaner with the multinational construction conglomerate Saudi Binladin Group. He made 741 riyals a month (around Rs 18,500) which supported his family back home.He was arrested in 2023 because the video of the Bangladeshi couple was allegedly shot on his phone, his family said.“He is an innocent boy,” said Kohinoor, 48, of her son. She claimed that a Pakistani national who worked with her son had taken her son’s phone, shot the video and shared it on social media.“My son was unaware of the consequences. He was arrested along with six others, including the Bangladeshi couple and four youths from Pakistan. But he did not commit any serious crime. He is being kept in jail just because a video was uploaded (from his phone),” she said.Sahabuddin’s long incarceration has left the family without adequate financial support. His younger brother Akash has had to take up work as a daily wage labourer. His ageing father too has continued to work.The family said it does not have the financial wherewithal to travel to Saudi Arabia and fight the matter out in court, and that is why it was seeking the govt’s support.Kohinoor has sent out appeals to the Murshidabad district administration, state authorities as well as the Centre for help securing her son’s release and return to India.In Oct 2024, she approached Murshidabad-based NGO Karna Subarna Welfare Society, which approached the Indian High Commission, seeking intervention. The family said it is yet to receive a response.Matiur Rahman, the NGO’s secretary, said his organisation has reached out to authorities again after Kohinoor informed them of the executions.Sahabuddin’s father Alamgir said he had sent his son abroad out of economic necessity. “We sent our son abroad because we are poor. We don’t have the financial means to fight a legal battle there (in Saudi Arabia). That is why we are seeking the govt’s help,” he said.
