HC issues rule on educational institutions seeking info on marital status

The High Court has issued a rule asking authorities why it should not declare unconstitutional the educational institutions asking students about their marital status for admission.

Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Mohammad Ullah issued the rule on Monday after hearing a writ filed over complications regarding a rape survivor’s admission for higher studies.

The High Court has ordered Rajshahi Government Nursing College to admit the girl, who is mother of a child.

Barrister Anil R Hoque, Advocate Ainun Nahar Siddiqa and Barrister Joytirmoy Barua stood for the petitioners.

The rule asks why the query should not be declared unconstitutional and why a policy should not be formed over the matter, Nahar told bdnews24.com.

The college authorities have to submit a report within Jan 4.

The education secretary, home secretary, health and family welfare secretary, law secretary, women and children affairs secretary, director general of the Department of Women Affairs and director general of the Bangladesh Nursing and Midwifery Council have to respond within four weeks.

Supreme Court lawyer Fahria Ferdous and Nahid Sultana Jenny filed the writ petition after a national daily published a report on a rape survivor on Nov 14.

The girl was raped when she was in grade X in 2013, says the report. She was admitted to the One Stop Crisis centre at the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.

Police arrested one in a case started by the centre. The trial court found him guilty in May this year.

The convict was sentenced to life term and fined Tk 100,000. The court ordered him to bear expenses of the child.

In 2014, the victim gave birth to a son while she was taking the Secondary School Certificate or SSC examinations. She passed HSC with GPA 3.17 this year.

But complications aroused as she opted to take admission at the Rajshahi Government Nursing College.

Quoting principal of the college Monizza Khatun, the report says: “The girl must mention ‘unmarried’ or ‘abandoned by husband’ on the admission form. In this case, she should write ‘abandoned by husband’.”