Bangladesh Punishes Rape With the Death Penalty

Sexual offenders in Bangladesh will face the death penalty as parliament approved the ultimate sanction following a wave of social unrest over gang rapes and assaults.

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The Women and Children Repression Prevention (Amendment) Bill establish that anyone convicted of rape will be punished with death or "rigorous imprisonment" for life. This after a video went viral of a woman being stripped and sexually assaulted in the southern village of Noakhali.

The footage sparked days of nationwide protests, while activists asked for the maximum penalty for the offenders. Previously the ultimate sanction was life imprisonment, but demonstrators said this was not sufficient as several abusers have enjoyed impunity.

Although local media outlets report that these protests against gender violence are unprecedented in the Muslim majority nation, rape continues to be a significant problem. Recently the human rights group  Ain o Salish Kendra reported that 1,000 women were from January to September, and one-fifth of them were gang rapes.

On the other hand, a 2013 report by the United Nations found that a vast majority of men in rural and urban areas who admitted that they committed rape also said they faced no consequences.