The Rape Law Reform Coalition has called for immediate investigation into the death of a 14-year-old bride in Tangail following excessive genital bleeding just one month into her marriage.
The coalition also called for immediate repeal of the exception to Section 375 of the Bangladesh Penal Code, which clearly deprives married women of their fundamental rights under Articles 28, 31, 32 and 35(5) of the constitution.
The girl succumed to her injuries while undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on October 25.
Issuing a press release on Thursday, the coalition demanded action against those responsible following an immediate and impartial investigation into the causes of her death.
According to the victim’s family, the girl had been bleeding from the day after she was married, as her husband had repeated forced intercourse with her, reads the release.
According to medical experts, panic and fear is a natural reaction for girls during their first sexual encounter and genital bleeding often occurs with those who get married, it added.
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“The coalition is concerned that this is not an isolated incident and that many women and girls experience rape in marriage. Most such women are unable to seek redress due to the continued prevalence of gender discriminatory laws – in particular Section 375 of the Bangladesh Penal Code 1860 - that create an exception to the definition of rape, in cases of marriage, where the wife is aged below 13.”
According to the National Violence against Women Survey, 2015 by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 27.3% of ever married women have experienced sexual violence perpetrated by their husbands during their lifetime.
The most common form of sexual violence faced by ever married women was being physically forced to have sexual intercourse by their husbands, it mentioned.
The marital rape exception severely discriminates against married women by denying them legal protection against forced sexual intercourse simply because they are married. The exception also violates the constitutional grantees to prohibition on cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment, says the release.
