Urgent Advisory Council meeting tomorrow to approve ordinance to fast-track rape trials

The interim government's Advisory Council is set to hold a special emergency meeting tomorrow (17 March) to approve the draft of the Women and Children Repression Prevention (Amendment) Ordinance, which aims to halve the time required for the investigation and trial of rape cases.

The meeting will take place at the Chief Adviser's Office, sources told The Business Standard today (16 March).

Following nationwide outrage over the rape and death of an eight-year-old child from Magura, the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs has drafted an amendment to expedite the trial process for rape cases.

This draft will be presented at tomorrow's meeting for approval in principle by the council.

Regarding this issue, Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Asif Nazrul recently told journalists that the investigation period for rape cases would be reduced from 30 days to 15 days, while trials must be completed within 90 days.

Currently, the law allows 180 days for the completion of a rape trial.

According to the draft ordinance, if deemed appropriate, the judge will be able to proceed with the trial based on medical certificates and circumstantial evidence without requiring a DNA test report.

Under the existing law, investigations are supposed to be completed within 30 days, but that does not reportedly happen in many cases. If the investigating officer failed to complete the probe within 30 days, they would be replaced, and the new officer would receive another 30 days to submit their findings.

If they also failed, another replacement would be appointed, leading to repeated changes in investigators, which prolonged cases and delayed justice.

However, according to the draft ordinance, such provisions for investigator replacement will no longer be available. The designated investigator must complete the investigation within the stipulated time, and no changes to the investigating officer will be allowed.