In October, the new draft bill providing for capital...

In October, the new draft bill providing for capital punishment in extreme cases of violence against women and children was sharply criticized by both fundamentalist and progressive groups in Bangladesh. The religious right has opposed the draft bill from the religious point of view while women's organizations and intellectuals have blasted it for "degrading" the position of women.
The controversial bill includes a clause that makes the rapist responsible for a child born out of rape - "such a child will be heir to the offender," the bill says. An angry Maleka Begum, a leading rights activist, said no woman would want to hand over the child to her violator. This kind of law would amount to legalizing rape instead of discouraging it, she feels. Taking a dig at the framers of the draft bill, she said they could have incorporated the provision of abortion when a woman conceives a child following rape.
Rokeya Kabir, executive director of the Bangladesh Nari Progoti Sangha, said laws need to end injustices against women in Bangladesh's patriarchal society.
The Ain-o-Salish Kendra, an independent legal aid group for women and children, said newspapers reported 1,425 cases of rape in 1998, up from 738 in 1997 and 277 in 1996. More than 300 women and girls suffered acid burns.
Maulana Obaidul Huq, the head of the Baitul Mokarram National mosque in Dhaka city, urged the government to recall the cabinet decision on giving the child inheritance rights to the rapist's property. "The holy Koran does not provide for inheritance to an illegitimate child," he said, adding that such a law would be against the Shari'a, or Islamic law.
Maulana Nuruzzaman, a religious leader, said Islamic scholars in the country would not allow enactment of such a law in Bangladesh. "We will launch a movement if the draft bill is not rescinded," he warned.
The religious right is united in the view that if enacted, the new law will encourage zena (illicit sex). They point out that punishment of the rapists was clearly stated in the Koran - rapists have to be stoned to death.
Retired justice A. K. Sobhan was critical of capital punishment for rape. He said judges wanted to be fully satisfied before awarding this extreme punishment, and if full proof was not found the sexual assaulter would go free.
He opined that the provision of jail terms of between 15 and 20 years would ensure the rapist is punished - a view supported by woman barrister Tania Amir of the Dhaka High Court who said the draft law would ultimately turn out to be "criminal friendly" instead of "prosecution friendly."
Twenty one women's organizations met with Law Minister Abdul Matin Khashru on October 7 to urge him to remove all the loopholes and inconsistencies in the draft bill. They say the Government must take responsibility for children born to rape victims.
The Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA), at the forefront of the women's movement, said in a study that a victim of rape faces many problems in the trial process. The high legal expenses make it impossible for poor women to go to court, and the rape victims are often harassed by the police.
Janakantha, a mass circulation Bangla-language daily, said in a report that 6,210 cases of attacks on women were recorded at police stations in 1998. In 1997, it was 5,434. Adhikar (right), an independent group, said an alarming total of 60 rape victims were killed last year by their rapists. With most of Bangladesh's people living in villages, the actual figures of attacks on women and children are probably much higher, says advocate Abu Taleb.