A former Bangladeshi beauty queen and activist says her life has been turned upside down after an alleged whirlwind romance with a Saudi diplomat ended in scandal, arrest, and public vilification. Meghna Alam, who rose to national prominence after winning the Miss Earth Bangladesh pageant in 2020, told The Independent UK that her brief relationship with Essa Yousef Al Duhailan, then Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Bangladesh, became the trigger for a far-reaching smear campaign and legal crackdown.
Alam, now 30, recalled meeting Al Duhailan at a Dhaka event in September 2024. According to her, he showered her with gifts including jewellery, flowers, a diamond ring, and 200kg of dates labelled a “Gift from the King of Saudi Arabia.” “I did like the fact that a very powerful man was pursuing me,” she told The Independent UK. “He seemed like a very genuine person. But things were rushing too fast.”
She claims the diplomat told her he was divorced, but also warned her that Saudi diplomats were prohibited from marrying Bangladeshi nationals—a revelation that left her shocked. Rumours of pregnancy and abortion soon began circulating, costing her brand partnerships and damaging her public image. “People were literally telling me, we cannot have a brand ambassador who’s had an abortion,” she said, insisting the accusations were false.
The saga took a darker turn on 9 April 2025. Alam says plainclothes officers arrived at her home under the pretext of checking her birth certificate and accused her of drug possession. She went live on Facebook to document the encounter, but was detained for two days at a secretive government facility. She alleges she was interrogated, pressured to retract statements, and forced to delete the video—echoing what rights groups describe as Bangladesh’s use of “psychological torment” to silence dissent.
Local media later reported she had been charged with fraud, extortion, and “honey-trapping” diplomats. Police claimed she endangered Bangladesh’s relations with Saudi Arabia. On 10 April, a midnight court ordered a 30-day detention under the Special Powers Act. She was granted bail on 28 April, according to the Dhaka Tribune.
Amnesty International expressed alarm over Alam’s case, calling her detention under the Special Powers Act a “gross violation” of due process and international human rights norms. A group of 27 Bangladeshi women’s rights advocates also wrote to interim leader Muhammad Yunus demanding her release.
Alam told The Independent UK that Al Duhailan left Bangladesh the same day she was detained, deactivating his phone and deleting his social media profiles. The Saudi embassy in Dhaka and the kingdom’s foreign ministry have been contacted for comment but have not responded.
Today, Alam says she has moved back in with her parents after giving up her apartment due to harassment. She brings symbolic personal items—such as the Quran and prayer dress gifted by the envoy—to court hearings to show that nothing illicit occurred between them. “They dragged it to an extent that it made me an object of shame for the whole society,” she said. “No matter how positive I want to be, this is an obstruction to my work.”
It has been nearly a year since she met Al Duhailan, and Alam says she is still struggling to rebuild her life and reputation. “I know there is no legal way to fight him because the whole government is plotting to save him,” she said.
