The trials for cases in connection with women oppression, including rape, are facing significant delay, as the tribunals meant to try female abusers also have to deal with child-related offences.
According to legal experts, prosecutors and court officials, it is essential to reduce the pressure on the women and children repression prevention tribunals by forming separate courts to try child-related crimes to ensure timely justice for women, especially the rape victims.
Rape remains one of the most heinous crimes in the country, and incidents have been rising amid a deteriorating law-and-order situation. The country witnessed protests demanding faster trials.
The urgency intensified following the rape and murder of Achhia, a child from Magura, which shocked the nation and pushed the government to review existing procedures.
Following the Magura tragedy, Law Adviser Asif Nazrul said the trial period for rape cases would be brought down to 90 days from existing 180 and the investigation time will be halved from 30 days.
However, doubts arose about how the trial will be completed in just 90 days if the pressure of cases in the women and child abuse prevention tribunals formed to try rape cases is not reduced.
There are a total of nine women and child abuse prevention tribunals in the lower courts of Dhaka. These tribunals are mainly formed to try women and child abuse cases. These courts try cases filed on charges of rape of women and children, murder after rape, dowry demand, beating for dowry demand, etc.
In 2013, a separate “Children’s Act” was enacted to try all types of crimes committed by children. But no separate children’s courts have been formed anywhere in the country to try children. Initially, the additional sessions judge courts of the district and sessions Judge courts across the country were designated as children’s courts. Then in 2018, a bill was passed in parliament mandating that all women and child abuse prevention tribunals would be considered children’s courts.
In Bangladesh, if someone under the age of 18 commits any crime, they are tried separately under the Children’s Act, rather than existing penal code. According to the Children’s Act-2013, no matter how serious the crime is, there is no provision for giving death penalty or life imprisonment to a child under the age of 18. Since 2018, the women and children’s repression prevention tribunals in Dhaka have been having to handle the pressure of these child cases in addition to cases of violence against women.
According to official court records, 18,928 cases are currently pending in the nine Dhaka tribunals, of which 3,973 (21%) involve children.
The pressure is nationwide. Across Bangladesh, more than 1,51,317 cases are awaiting disposal in women and children’s tribunals, including 42,569 child cases — 28.13 percent of the total.
Experts believe that the trials of cases of rape and other violence against women are being delayed due to the pressure of the additional child cases. Due to the high number of cases, there is a long gap between dates of hearing.
Court officials said that there are different rules and regulations for the trials of these child cases. They have to spend extra time to cope with the pressure of these cases.
Employee of a women and children repression prevention tribunal in Dhaka, who did not want to be named, said, “Due to the pressure, the dates of hearing of rape cases are delayed for many days. Again, witnesses do not appear on many dates. These various reasons are causing a slowdown in the trials of rape. If the children’s court is separated, the pressure of cases on the judges will be reduced. They will be able to focus only on the trials of rape cases. Our workload will also be reduced a little.”
Abul Kalam Azad, public prosecutor (PP) of the women and children’s repression prevention tribunal-7, said, “It would be better if the children’s courts are separated. The number of pending cases will come down. Hearings on the rape cases will be done quickly yielding quick result.”
Another PP, Omar Farooq Farooqi, said that if there are more courts, the pressure of cases will decrease. The government is taking initiatives to separate the children’s court. If a separate court is set up to try children, the trials will be expedited.
Investigations into rape cases remain slow
In March this year, the government amended the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act to halve the investigation period for rape cases. Investigating officers must now submit reports within 15 days of an arrest, with the option of an additional 30 days if justified. If the accused is not arrested, the deadline is 60 days from the filing of the complaint.
Despite this amendment, investigations remain sluggish. Court sources say most of the investigations are not completed within the stipulated time.
A woman raped on March 20 in Hazaribagh filed her case on May 13. The investigation report has been postponed six times and is now due on October 7.
A polytechnic student in the capital Institute student filed a case on June 6 after being raped by a classmate. The investigation has been delayed four times, with a new deadline of October 9.
Such delays are widespread, even in cases filed after the law was amended.
Investigators argue that the short deadlines are impractical, as it takes significant amount of time to ascertain the real culprits due to many practical reasons. Medical evidence also becomes difficult to collect if a complaint is filed months after the incident, while arrests of absconding accused often take significant time.
They also say Bangladesh has only one DNA testing laboratory, at the CID headquarters, which struggles with a heavy caseload. For sensational cases, reports may come faster, but otherwise, it often takes four months.
Due to all these reasons, it is not possible to complete an investigation in 15 days, they add.
“Even when a victim files immediately and the accused is arrested, DNA reports alone take three to four months,” said one officer speaking anonymously.
For survivors, these delays are devastating. “It has been six months, the investigation isn’t finished, and the accused has not been arrested. I still haven’t received justice,” said one victim.
The prolonged process discourages many victims from pursuing cases to the end, experts warn. Witness attendance is another major challenge once trials begin, leading to repeated adjournments.
Abdur Razzak, senior vice-president of the Dhaka bar association, said rape investigations often take six months to two years. “Then, when the trial starts, witness attendance issues cause further delays. On top of that, tribunals are overloaded with other women’s abuse cases and children’s cases.”
He suggested that separate tribunals dedicated solely to rape cases would significantly speed up justice. “If this is done, it will be a groundbreaking step.”
Despite repeated attempts Law and Justice Adviser Asif Nazrul and Law and Justice Secretary (current charge) Liakat Ali Molla could not be reached for comments.
