Bangladesh passes law with five-year jail term, Tk 50,000 fine for false dowry charges

Parliament has passed an anti-dowry law carrying penalties of five years in jail and Tk 50,000 in fine for falsely charging individuals.

The MPs passed the ‘Dowry Prohibition Bill 2018’ by voice vote after State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroze Chumki placed it before them on Sunday.

The Bill was forwarded to the parliamentary standing committee on the women and children affairs for scrutiny after its draft was presented on June 25.

A person may face up to five years of prison term or maximum Tk 50,000 fines or both if they bring such charges against someone to cause harm to the latter even after knowing that there is no legal grounds to do so, according to the Bill.

There was no punishment for such offence in the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1980.

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.