Writ seeks High Court ban on marriage between rape victims and rapists

A writ petition has been filed in the High Court seeking a directive to prohibit the marriage of rape victims with their rapists, arguing that such arrangements undermine justice and normalise violence against women.

The public interest writ was submitted on Wednesday (22 October) by Advocate Md Rakibul Hasan from Sirajganj. 

The petition names the secretaries of the home, law, women and child affairs, and social welfare ministries, as well as the inspector general of police, the director general of prisons, and the registrar general of the Supreme Court as respondents. 

The High Court bench of Justice Fahmida Quader and Justice Asif Hasan is expected to hear the matter next week, according to court sources.

The petition cites several recent cases where convicted or accused rapists were permitted to marry their victims under official supervision. It specifically references the recent marriage of singer Mainul Ahsan Nobel to the plaintiff in a rape case filed against him. 

The ceremony reportedly took place at the main gate of Keraniganj Central Jail, with court permission and prison authorities' oversight. 

The writ criticises the way such events are portrayed in media, noting that they often frame the accused as "rehabilitated" figures rather than perpetrators of violence.

"This is not the first such incident," the writ notes, pointing to a wider pattern of rapists evading justice through coerced or socially pressured marriages. 

"By legitimising rape through marriage, perpetrators from all classes find ways to escape accountability. Such practices not only distort the justice process but also re-victimise survivors."

The petition calls for an immediate legal directive banning these marriages, arguing that no personal consent or social mediation can override the criminal nature of rape. 

It said, "Marrying a rape victim does not erase the crime. Whatever is a crime, remains a crime."