High Court returns writ seeking ban on marriages between rapists and victims

The High Court today returned a writ petition that sought its directives on the government to ban the practice of marrying rape victims to their rapists back to its petitioner.

The bench of Justice Fatema Najib and Justice AFM Saiful Karim passed the order as a part of the petition was written incorrectly.

“I have addressed the home secretary as the first respondent, instead of the law secretary, in my petition. That is why the High Court bench rejected my petition. I will correct the petition and move it again before the bench very soon,” writ petitioner Advocate Md Rakibul Hassan told The Daily Star.

He submitted the writ petition as a public interest litigation at the High Court on October 22 last year, saying that the practice of marrying rape victims to their rapists normalises sexual violence.

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In the petition, Advocate Rakibul, a Supreme Court lawyer originally from Sirajganj, argued that such marriages undermine the rule of law and perpetuate the culture of impunity for heinous crimes such as rape.

He requested the HC to issue a rule asking relevant authorities to explain as to why their inaction in preventing such marriages should not be declared illegal.

Citing various incidents, the lawyer told The Daily Star that there have been numerous cases where marriages between rapists and their victims were arranged in jail to help offenders obtain bail or avoid punishment through compromise.

“These marriages effectively legitimise rape and allow perpetrators to escape justice,” he said.

The petition includes several newspaper reports documenting such instances, including a recent case involving singer Mainul Ahsan Noble. Noble reportedly married the complainant of a rape case filed against him at Keraniganj Central Jail, under the supervision of prison authorities and with court permission. The case against him remains under trial, Rakibul added.

The writ petition named as respondents the secretaries to the ministries of home, law, women and children affairs, and social welfare, as well as the inspector general of police, director general of prisons, and registrar general of the Supreme Court.