Dowry Prohibition Act, 2018 placed in JS with a provision of 5yrs imprisonment

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SANGSAD BHABAN, June 25, 2018 (BSS)-The Dowry Prohibition Act, 2018 has
been placed in the Jatiya Sangsad with a provision of not more than five
years or not less than one year imprisonment or not more than Taka 50,000
fine or both for demanding dowry directly or indirectly.

State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroz Chumki placed
the bill in the house with Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Dr Shirin Sharmin
Chaudhury in the chair.

Although Bangladesh is signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), an international treaty
adopted in 1979 by the United Nations, but the dowry is being identified as a
dangerous problem of the country, said the state minister while placing the
bill before the House.

To eliminate the problem, the government enacted “The Dowry Prohibition
Act, 1980” in 1980 and enacted different acts including “Child Marriage
Elimination Act, 2017” for strengthening the women empowerment, she added.

Terming the proposed act is time-befitting and significant, Meher Afroz
said the existing act had no provision of imprisonment or fine for filing any
false case on the dowry.

The people who will file false case on claiming the dowry then the
plaintiff will be guilty with same charge, the minister noted.

A total of 11 sections have been included in the proposed act.

The state minister requested the House to send the proposed bill to the
Standing Committee on the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs to provide a
report on the bill within the next 30 days.