Bangladesh to have death penalty for rape

Oct 12, 2020
Dhaka: The Bangladesh Government on Monday approved an amendment in the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act to provide for capital punishment for rape.

The amendment that came amid countrywide protests against violence against women, was cleared by the Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

“The cabinet has approved the amendment proposal, incorporating a provision of the death penalty or life-term in jail for rape,” said Khandker Anwarul Islam, secretary of the Cabinet division.

The maximum punishment under the previous law in rape cases was life imprisonment.

State Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs Fazilatunnesa Indira this will help women empowerment take a step forward.

However, legal experts and rights activists claim the death penalty for rape is ineffective in reducing the number of rape incidents.

Bangladesh English dauly Daily Star quoted the country’s National Women Lawyers’ Association (BNWLA) Executive Director Advocate Salma Ali as saying, “It is just a rushed act to calm some of the protesters.”

Access to justice begins at the local police stations. The police stations need to have at least three expert officials properly trained to be sensitive to women and such cases. In this digital era, court room proceedings can also be held keeping the survivours behind a screen as part of the protection ring, she also said.

Another legal researcher Taqbir Huda, as quoted by the newspaper, shared Ali’s concern,” “The biggest barriers to justice for rape have been the lack of a witness protection system, the lack of gender sensitisation of justice sector actors, the lack of timely medico-legal examination, the lack of sentencing discretion of judges and the lengthy trial periods due to overburdened judges and courts. None of these prime and actual barriers to justice for rape are addressed in the slightest by the introduction of death penalty,” he said

Bangladesh has been hit by protests staged by different organisations at Dhaka’s Shahbagh square and other parts of the country against sexual assaults on a woman in Noakhali and the rape of another woman in Sylhet’s MC College.

As many as 4,541 rape cases have been reported Bangladesh in the past 16 years. However, conviction took place only in 60 of these incidents, according to data from the tribunals.

At least 889 women have been raped in Bangladesh between January and August 2020, rights group Ain O Salish Kendra said.

As many as 192 others faced attempted rapes and sexual harassment in this period, while nine of the victims took their own lives, bdnews24 reported.

Rights activists believe the numbers are much higher because many of the victims do not complain to the police.
—INDIA NEWS STREAM