Elected representatives should be liable for child marriages, says Bangladesh High Court

The High Court in Bangladesh has pulled up elected representatives over child marriages held in their areas.

Elected representatives should be liable for child marriages held in their areas, the High Court in Bangladesh has said.

The court also issued an order to the government to explain why they will not be prosecuted.

On Monday, it issued the rule after taking a recent media report into its consideration.

Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Mohammad Ullah asked why Union Council chairmen, ward members and councillors will not be prosecuted and removed from offices over child marriages in their constituencies.

The court said public representatives were 'very well aware' of what's happening in each household in their areas, so they should be held responsible for such cases.

Secretaries of public administration, local government, law, social welfare, and women and children’s affairs have been told to come up with explanations.

Deputy Attorney General Tapash Kumar Biswas said the court fixed Dec 3 for the next hearing.

The court also ordered the ministries of public administration, and women and children’s affairs to make sure that the copy of Monday's order reaches all district and Upazila administration chiefs.

The High Court issued the rule over an Oct 28 report ran by the Prothom Alo, where it said eight such marriages were stopped between Oct 26 and 27 in Natore, Kushtia, Barisal and Dhaka's Savar after the local administration intervened.

Quoting the Prime Minister Office's Governance Innovation Unit, it said 13,334 such incidents were stopped in 2014, which dropped to 6,389 in 2016.

Bangladesh has the highest rate of child marriages in South Asia with around 66 percent of girls getting married before 18, according to UNICEF.