Amid concern over violence against women across the country, a housewife of Rangunia upazila in Chittagong recently faced barbaric torture allegedly by her husband for dowry. Yasmin Akhter, 30, wife of Mohammad Salimullah Ruffel of Sandwippara in the upazila, suffered severe burn injuries as Salimullah allegedly set fire to her for dowry on Friday. Dowry Law in BangladeshEffective since 1980, this Dowry Prohibition Act made it illegal to exchange any form of property or valuable assets in the name of dowry. The amended Dowry Prohibition Act 2017 stipulates penalties of five years in jail and Tk 50,000 in fine for demanding, receiving and giving dowry. In the old law, the punishment for demanding, giving or receiving dowry was minimum one-year prison term and maximum five years in jail or up to Tk 5,000 fines or both.

Source: Dhaka Tribune November 21, 2020 10:30 UTC