62pc of complaints of violence against women are against husbands

A husband was beating his wife with a leather belt while their children were crying in the next room. Although she denied the allegations he was making, the beating continued. A video of the incident went viral on social media last week. The woman who was beaten was Mukta Islam. The video came to light only after her death.

Before the discussion over that incident had subsided, news emerged of the death of another woman, Al Maida Akter, 20, after being subjected to violence. Maida was declared dead after being taken to hospital, and her husband fled. Local people caught him and handed him over to the police.

Speaking to the family, it was learned that two days before her death, Maida had sent her cousin a photograph of injuries sustained from a beating. Her cheek was bandaged and her eye was swollen.

Both women died after suffering regular abuse at the hands of their husbands. They continued their marriages despite enduring the violence. Statistics on calls received by the National Emergency Service 999 and data from the human rights organisation Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) show that among complaints of violence against women, those against husbands are the most common.

An analysis of calls received by the National Emergency Service 999 shows that 27,911 calls were made in the first eight months of this year, from January to August, concerning various forms of violence against women. Of these, 17,196 were complaints of abuse by husbands—meaning that nearly 62 per cent of the complaints were against husbands.

Women’s rights activists say both women continued their marriages despite enduring abuse. They believe violence against women is increasing because domestic violence is often tolerated rather than treated as a crime.

Fauzia Moslem, president of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, told Prothom Alo, there is a culture of not recognising domestic violence as a crime. This crime has been brought to a level of social acceptability. It is as though marriage is everything in a woman’s life. Women are told to endure abuse and stay in their marriages.

Women call 999 every day to report not only abuse by their husbands but also murder, rape, sexual harassment, stalking, incitement to suicide, unlawful confinement, abuse by parents or others, and violence over demands for dowry.

An analysis of calls received during the first eight months of this year shows that an average of 70 calls a day were made about abuse by husbands. The number is higher than last year. In 2025, from January to December, 58 per cent of calls concerning violence against women were complaints against husbands.

Maida, who died after being subjected to abuse, was 20. Her mother’s home was in Idilpur village of Sadullapur upazila, Gaibandha. Her husband, Siyam Al Mursalin, 30, was from Shalmara village in neighbouring Palashbari upazila.

They married in 2021 after being in a relationship. They had two sons, aged four and one. Maida was a first-year honours student in sociology at Palashbari Government College. She was the younger of two siblings. After the death of Maida’s father, Shahajada Mia, her mother, Rahima Khatun, 48, raised the two children by working as a deed writer at the land office.

Prothom Alo spoke to Rahima Khatun by phone last Saturday. She could barely speak. Inconsolable, she said Siyam had been beating Maida since the beginning of their marriage.

A local arbitration meeting had also been held over the matter. At the time, Siyam told her, “There can be some problems between a husband and wife in a family. You have to bear with these things.”

Maida’s cousin, Mosammat Shafia, told Prothom Alo that two days before her death, Maida sent her a photograph showing injuries to her face from a beating and said, “Apa, he beat me again today.” Shocked by the photograph, Shafia told her, “Why are you staying in that marriage? Come away.” Maida replied that she was beaten all the time, but her children were still young. If she left the marriage, she said, the children would grow up suffering.

Fauzia Moslem, president of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, said victims can seek justice under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act and the Domestic Violence (Protection and Prevention) Act.

However, she said there is a campaign of misinformation surrounding cases of violence against women, with claims that 99 per cent of such cases are false. “This misinformation must be stopped and victims must be ensured access to justice so that families are also encouraged to seek legal remedies,” she said.

The severity of violence perpetrated by husbands or partners in Bangladesh was highlighted by a survey conducted in February last year. The survey, jointly conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Bangladesh, was titled ‘Violence Against Women Survey–2024’.

The survey found that nearly 70 per cent of women had experienced at least one form of violence—physical, sexual, psychological or economic—or controlling behaviour by an intimate partner or husband at some point in their lives. The rate was 73 per cent in 2015 and 80 per cent in 2011.

Meanwhile, ASK data show that 284 incidents of domestic violence were reported in the media during the eight months from January to August this year.

Cases were filed in 119 of those incidents. There is no information available about the remaining cases. Among the women victims, 108 were killed by their husbands and 22 were subjected to abuse.

In 2025, from January to December, 560 incidents of domestic violence were reported in the media. Cases were filed in 248 of those incidents. There were 217 killings by husbands and 28 incidents of abuse.

Zinat Ara Haque, executive director of the Paribarik Nirjaton Protirodh Jot (Domestic Violence Prevention Alliance) ‘Amrai Pari’ (We Can), told Prothom Alo, “Violence is not being prevented in the way it should be. Changing or reforming laws alone cannot prevent violence. We have to go into communities and explain that attitudes towards women need to change. The state must adopt a zero-tolerance policy and take steps to overcome weaknesses in the justice system. Because the low rate of convictions is emboldening perpetrators.”