Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Dr. Asif Nazrul today categorically said that the government was firm to prevent violence against women, torture and anarchic activities in the country.
“Violence, torture and rape that are being committed against women in Bangladesh in no way acceptable and will not be accepted in any way,” he said at a media briefing following law and order meeting at his ministry in presence of Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus this afternoon.
Everyone in this government and its administration is determined to take all administrative measures to ensure justice in these cases and to stop any kind of sexual harassment. There is no room of doubt here.
On the discussion with the Chief Adviser on this issue, he said, “This meeting was not supposed to be held today, but due to some incidents, we are also very disturbed like you. We came here this morning and held a meeting to bring about a change. We have to consult with our partners on some issues, then we will finalize it and try to bring about this legal change within a few days.”
At this time, he said, in order to complete the trial process quickly, the investigating officer of the case cannot be changed and only the person who is given the responsibility will have to complete the investigation work within the specified time. The new time limit for the investigation will be 15 days and the trial has been set at 90 days.
At this time, the Law Adviser said, “If the trial is not held within 90 days, no one can be granted bail on this pretext. Under the previous law, if the trial was not held within 180 days, the rape accused would be granted bail, but from now on, that will not be done.”
“If there is any negligence in the trial of rape cases, we will add a specific provision to the law to take departmental action against them. Besides, the process of taking DNA forensics in the trial of such cases takes a lot of time, since this process is inadequate in the country,” he said.
As a result, the adviser said the trial process is delayed a lot. “We will discuss with our partners and bring amendments in this regard”.
He said if the judge thinks that it is possible to conduct the trial and investigation of the case only on the basis of the medical certificate, then he can take such measures.
“Our government will soon take steps to establish DNA forensic laboratories in every district. In addition, we have taken some more decisions in the discussions we had with the Office of the Chief Adviser on this matter.”
On behalf of the Home Ministry, Dr. Nazrul said, if there is sexual harassment or harassment on the streets, a separate toll-free hotline will be provided by the police and the Home Ministry to ensure redress in this matter and the details will be informed within 24 hours.
In this connection, he said there will be a dedicated cell in the Home Ministry to carry out its activities, while there will be a separate cell in the Law Ministry to investigate rape cases, where it will be seen that no one is unnecessarily delayed.
In response to a media query, he said, “After discussing with the stakeholders to amend the law, we will prepare a draft within a week, but it may take a few more days to pass it”.
He continued, “The aggrieved people have demanded justice within 24 hours. But legally it is not possible for us. You know there is a provision in the law. It is said that while trying to judge quickly, injustice can often be done”.
“Hopefully, the police and the court will work together and we will be able to complete the trial earlier. However, the issues we have mentioned are the proposals, we will discuss it with the stakeholders,” he added.
Information and Broadcasting Adviser Mahfuz Alam was present on the occasion.
