Bangladesh considers introducing death penalty for rape after protests against online video

Bangladesh government is considering introduction of a death penalty for those convicted of rape. A government minister confirmed this on Friday following angry protests that erupted this week over online video. The video showed a group of men sexually assaulting a woman. Currently, the maximum punishment for rape is life imprisonment.

A proposal for an urgent amendment to current rape legislation is being prepared. The review is to be submitted on Monday.

"We need to ensure that those who are proven guilty get the punishment they deserve... this is being drafted on behalf of the prime minister's instructions," Law Minister Anisul Huq told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Women's rights activist are demanding stricter implementation of law instead of solely making them stricter.

More than 950 women were raped in Bangladesh in the first nine months of this year, according to rights group Ain o Salish Kendra. That was similar to the number of rapes reported during the same period last year, but up from 2018.

Campaigners, however, say the real number is much higher, with many women reluctant to report sexual assaults.

Hundreds of Bangladeshis took to the streets of Dhaka and other cities this week to protest, demanding safe spaces for women and the arrest of rapists after the video circulated on social media.

An investigation by the country's National Human Rights Commission - an autonomous state body - found that the woman in the video had been threatened and raped repeatedly by one of the men in the group over the last year.

Police have arrested at least 10 suspects in connection with the video, said Alamgir Hossain, police superintendent in Noakhali, the southeastern city where the footage was shot.

Two weeks earlier, the alleged gang rape of a woman in a student hostel in the northeastern city of Sylhet sparked similar street protests and calls for the government to take steps to tackle sexual violence.

"The Bangladesh government needs to listen to women," said Meenakshi Ganguly, from Human Rights Watch, on Friday. "The government should ensure that all sexual assault survivors are treated with dignity."

Salma Ali, president of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association, said tougher penalties would not be enough.

"Focusing solely on capital punishment won't work... Our Women and Children Repression Prevention tribunals are overburdened. The number of courts need to increase," she said.

"We also need to focus on victim protection. Several other aspects related to this law need to be updated," she added.

(With Reuters inputs)