Bangladesh, under pressure to clamp down on escalating...

Bangladesh, under pressure to clamp down on escalating violence against women, introduced a law making acid attacks punishable by death.
Previous legislation set life imprisonment as the maximum penalty for acid attacks, a law police and women's rights groups said was not used widely or effectively.
"Young women who refuse love offers or do not submit to illicit affairs are the most victimised," a leader of the Bangladesh Acid Survivors' Foundation said.
A recent survey found that nearly 250 people, mostly women, received severe acid injuries in 2001 against about 200 the year earlier.
Police could not give a precise number of acid attacks in 2002 but said they were on the increase. They said they believed only 10 percent of culprits were arrested, but even fewer cases came to trial.
Shirin Akhtar, president of leading women rights group Karmojibi Nari, welcomed the new law as an "appropriate step at the right time".
"The government framed the new law providing for a maximum penalty...when acid attacks are rising alarmingly." she said. "We want the authorities to make full use of the law to curb such crimes."