Rapists are beasts: PM
Terming rapists "beasts", Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the government has to include the death sentence in the relevant law to save girls from these beasts.
"The rapists are [like] beasts as they exhibit their inhumane nature affecting our girls … we have amended the law and included capital punishment for rape…we have cleared the amendment [proposal] in the cabinet," she said.
The premier was addressing a programme marking the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2020, reports UNB.
The disaster management and relief ministry organised the event at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium. The PM jointed the programme from the Gono Bhaban through a video conference.
Hasina said the government was promulgating the ordinance to make the amendment effective as parliament was not in session. "Our aim is to face any problem whenever it arises and resolve it."
Meanwhile, President Abdul Hamid yesterday issued an ordinance on the amendment to the Nari O Shishu Nirjaton Daman Ain (Women and Children Repression Prevention Act) incorporating the provision for capital punishment for rape.
Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division of the law ministry also issued a gazette notification to this effect yesterday, reports our staff correspondent.
The ordinance is titled Nari O Shishu Nirjaton Daman Ain (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.
Rights activists and lawyers have said the move was made only to calm protesters and that it does not deal with the reforms being demanded by gender experts.
Amid countrywide protests over the growing incidents of rape and violence against women, the cabinet on Monday approved the draft of the Women and Children Repression Prevention (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
According to the ordinance, "Lifetime Rigorous Imprisonment" mentioned in section-9(1) of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act has been replaced by "Death or Lifetime Rigorous Punishment".
It means the maximum punishment for rape is death penalty or life imprisonment. Earlier, the maximum punishment was only life imprisonment.
People recently took to the streets across the country after a video clip had gone viral on social media. In the footage, a woman from Noakhali's Begumganj upazila was seen being brutally tortured.
At least 975 women were raped across the country until last month this year and there were 161 incidents of rape last month alone, according to a report by rights organisation Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK).
Of the victims, 208 were gang-raped, 43 murdered after rape and 12 died by suicide afterwards, the report added. Three women and nine men were killed while protesting assault incidents.
According to an estimate by Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, there were 129 rape incidents last month. Among the victims were 83 minors.
On Monday, Law Minister Anisul Huq told media that although there were some controversies over the death penalty, the PM felt the need to impose the capital punishment under the current circumstances.
He also said the chief justice would be requested to issue a directive so that the Nari O Shishu Nirjaton Daman Tribunals across the country could hear and dispose of old rape cases with priority and also complete trials of new ones at a faster pace.
Besides, the law ministry would issue necessary directives to special public prosecutors, asking them to take initiatives to finish trial proceedings quickly, the minister said.
DEATH SENTENCE NOT ENOUGH
Legal experts have said death sentence will not solve anything. The amendment does nothing to address the actual reforms being demanded by gender experts, they said.
Veteran women's rights activist advocate Salma Ali said, "It is just a rushed act to calm some of the protesters.
"The decision-makers should have taken the time to consult with grassroots lawyers and law practitioners who deal with such cases first-hand," she said.
The Rape Law Reform Coalition, a body comprised of 17 rights organisations including Bangladesh Legal Aid Services Trust (BLAST) and ASK, have 10 demands regarding the law, and the death penalty is not one of them.
The demands include changing the definition of the law to include victims of all genders, defining "penetration" to include rape using objects, banning the use of character evidence against rape survivors during trial, allowing judges to hand out punishments proportionately and as per their discretion, ensuring that courts and systems are inclusive for survivors with disabilities and enacting the witness protection law.
Comments