News Desk?:
Law Minister Anisul Huq ‍said that the government will issue an ordinance based on the amended Prevention of Women and Children Repression Act making rape punishable with death on Tuesday.

He said this while the disclosure after Cabinet approved bill of the law proposing the death sentence to the rapist on Monday.

President Abdul Hamid will promulgate the ordinance as Parliament is not in session to ratify the law.

Earlier, a person accused of simple rape was punished by life imprisonment as per previous law.

The government’s move has come after people burst into street protests against rape.

The violation of a housewife by some unruly youths at a hostel of Sylhet MC College followed by the stripping of a woman in Noakhali and videoing the scene sparked bitter criticism at home and abroad.

People from all walks of life have taken to the streets, demanding death sentence for rapists who get off scot-free through legal loopholes.

In Bangladesh, only 3 percent cases related to violence against women and children see conviction, as reported by Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal from five districts last year.