Bangladesh court recognises rapist as father of child born from 2013 violation of a woman

The identity is confirmed based on DNA test reports and testimony

In a major ruling, a Bangladeshi court verdict has regognised a father 13 years after the birth of his child following the rape of a woman abandoned by her husband in Netrokona’s Barhatta Upazila.

Judge Emdadul Haque of the Netrokona Women and Child Abuse Prevention Tribunal delivered the judgment based on DNA test reports and testimony on Wednesday afternoon, said Pubic Prosecutor Md Nurul Kabir Rubel.

The man was sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape that had occurred on the night of Mar 1, 2013. The court also fined him Tk 100,000, in default of which he will have to serve six months in jail.

When the woman became pregnant, the matter became known in the area leading to several arbitrations. However, the man repeatedly denied raping the woman and accepting the unborn child.

She sued him nearly two and a half months later.

State counsel Rubel said through the verdict, the child will be entitled to the father's property and other legal rights.