Zulekha was born in Aamkhola Village, Golachipa in approximately 1978 to a family of five children. None of the children had the opportunity to go to school. Zulekha lost her mother at a young age. She got married at around age 18 and moved to Katakhali to be with her husband, who is about five years older than Zulekha. As of 2013, she had four children, all boys: Alamgir (age 12, 7th grade), Ibrahim (age 9, 5th grade), Imran (age 7, 3rd grade), and Nazman (age 4).

During cyclones SIDR and AILA, she and her family took shelter in the Health Center. She lost the roof of her house during SIDR and received tin for repairs. She was already a member of the cooperative, where she has taken literacy classes as well as classes on fish cultivation and farming. She is very happy that she can now write her name and read and write quite a few words. She goes to the cooperative almost every day. She received seeds from the cooperative to start her own garden and planted watermelon, chillies, peanuts, and red spinach. Her harvest feeds her family and the remainder is sold. Zulekha also raises ducks for their eggs. She survived uterine cancer in 2015 and rejoined the sari printmaking and performances in 2017/2018.