Higher penalty lowers conviction rate

The conviction rate in rape cases in the country has been poor over the years due to the provision of higher punishment in law, said eminent jurist Dr Shahdeen Malik yesterday.

“We always raise demand for increasing punishment. But researches in many countries show whenever punishment for a crime is augmented, conviction rate drops,” he said. “This is a historical fact which most of us are not aware of.”

He was addressing a symposium on “Towards Tort Liability for Sexual Violence against Women” arranged by Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA) in its auditorium in the capital.

Dr Shahdeen Malik, honorary director of BILIA, said conviction rate in rape cases in the country had been one to three percent in the past two decades.

With counting together other cases related to violence against women and children, this conviction rate had never been more than 10 percent, he added.