Bangladesh Court Sentences Five to Death for Gang Rape

On the 13th, the maximum sentence for a lone rapist was increased to the death penalty

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] On the 16th, Dhaka Tribune reported that a Bangladeshi court sentenced five men accused of gang rape to the death penalty, the highest sentence in court.

According to the report, the Women and Children Oppression Prevention Court in Tangail, northern Bangladesh, sentenced five men to death on the previous day for gang raping a 15-year-old girl in January 2012.

According to the charges, the victim was raped by her boyfriend and two of his friends by the riverside. Two other men were charged with aiding the crime.

This ruling drew attention as it was the first verdict after Bangladesh raised the maximum legal sentence for single-perpetrator rape to the death penalty on the 13th.

Until now, the death penalty could be sought for gang rapists or rape-murder cases, but life imprisonment was the maximum sentence for single-perpetrator cases. Bangladesh has executed 23 people since 2013.

Recently, horrific rape crimes have occurred one after another in Bangladesh, raising calls for tougher punishment for rapists.

Protesters in the capital Dhaka and elsewhere have been demanding daily, "Hang the rapists."

This was triggered by a gang rape incident last month in the southern Noakhali district.

In Noakhali, a housewife was raped by several men in her home, and the scene was filmed and shared online.

Gang rape incidents also occurred in northeastern Sylhet and northern Dinajpur districts.

Local civic groups have counted 975 rape victims in Bangladesh from January to September this year, of which 208 cases were identified as gang rape incidents.