'Is rape legal after 72 hours?'
A section of men and women from different social strata, including university’s teachers and students, woman rights activists, professionals and artists, took to the streets on Thursday midnight in protest of the court’s direction to the police not to accept the lawsuits 72 hours after the rape.
Demonstrators brought out a torch procession from Shabagh to Jatiya Sangsad (parliament) in the capital while holding placards and chanting slogans, ‘Is rape legal after 72 hours?’, ‘We want safety on the streets day and night’ and ‘Ensure equality, break patriarchy’.
Later, they held a mass signature campaign in front of the parliament demanding abolition of Section 155 (4) from the 1872 testimony act.
In the protest, professor of the anthropology department of Jahangirnagar University Rehnuma Ahmed said, “In the 21st century, this kind of verdict should not be delivered in an independent country. The court is responsible for carrying out justice, not giving character certificates. The judge asked the police not to accept the case 72 hours after the rape. So, will not the police take the rape complaint if a woman is confined for 72 hours after the rape?”
Lawyer Farah Hossain said, “We have been demanding scrapping Section 155 (4) [from the 1872 testimony act] for a long time. The verdict of a case today, Thursday, assassinated the character of women victims instead of ensuring them justice. This is condemnable.”
Zafrullah Chowdhury, founder of Gonoshasthaya Kendra, noted photojournalist Shahidul Islam, among others, took part in the protest.
Earlier, a tribunal acquitted five persons accused of raping two university students in the city’s Raintree Hotel four years ago. Judge Kamrunnahar of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-7 pronounced the verdict on Thursday.
The five acquitted persons are Apan Jewellers owner Dildar Hossain’s son Shafat Ahmed, Shafat’s friend Shadman Sakif, Nayem Ashraf, Shafat's driver Billal Hossain and bodyguard Rahmat Ali. A case was filed with the Banani police station on 28 March 2017 in connection with raping two university students.
While delivering the verdict, the court observed that the prosecution had failed to prove the case and wasted the court’s time.