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DHAKA: Bangladesh introduced the death penalty for rape on Monday (October 12) after days of protests sparked by a series of sexual assaults, the government said.
Demonstrations have taken place across the country after heartbreaking images of a group of men stripping and attacking a woman went viral on social media.
The clip sparked outrage in the South Asian country, where activists say only a small percentage of sexual assault victims see justice.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also faced an internal protest within the ranks of the ruling party over her alleged inaction, before her government approved the capital punishment proposal at a meeting in Dhaka.
Justice Minister Anisul Huq told AFP that the president would put the law into effect on Tuesday.
Previously, the maximum punishment for rape was life imprisonment.
National anger over the issue has been simmering since last month, when members of the ruling party’s student wing were arrested and charged in a separate gang rape case.
Protesters in the capital Dhaka and elsewhere have demanded harsher punishments for rape, faster trials for rapists and an end to what they see as a culture of impunity.
Some have also called for Hasina’s resignation, an unusual display of public defiance in a country where outspoken criticism of the prime minister has become increasingly rare.
Demonstrations continued in central Dhaka on Monday despite heavy monsoon rains, and hundreds of people condemned the recent arrest of student leaders by authorities trying to suppress the protests.
Bangladesh has hanged 23 people since 2013, while at least 1,718 others are on death row, according to a local human rights group.
