DHAKA: Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday declared unconstitutional the provision of only death sentence as the highest punishment for killing after rape.

The section 6(2) of the Women and Children Prevention (Special) Act 1995 advocated for awarding only death penalty to any person for killing any woman or child after rape.

A four-member bench of SC’s Appellate Division led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha handed down the verdict, upholding a High Court judgment that declared the section 6(2) unconstitutional and illegal.

The bench also declared section 6(3), and section 6(4) of the 1995 Act and section 34(2) of the Women and Children Prevention Act (Amendment)-2000 unconstitutional.

Earlier on March 2, 2010, HC declared section 6(2) of the 1995 Act illegal and unconstitutional, following a writ petition filed jointly by Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, a rights organization, and a death row convict Sukur Ali of Manikganj.

The HC also stayed the execution order of Sukur Ali, who was awarded with the capital punishment for killing a 7-year-old girl after raping in 1996, following the petition.

One of the writ petitioners Abdul Manna told banglanews that the Appellate Division declared the provisions of the acts unconstitutional.

However, the apex body has upheld the death penalty for Sukur Ali.

BDST: 1356 HRS, MAY 05, 2015
HB/RR