"The Parliament of Bangladesh passed the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2017 with a special provision allowing a boy or a girl to get married before reaching the statutory age in some exceptional cases. This provision stirred the civil society of the entire country. Controversial section 19 of the Act says that notwithstanding anything contained in the Act, if a marriage takes place, in the best interest of the underage boy or girl involved, with the permission of the parents of the underage boy or girl, and with an order of the court, upon following the due procedure as laid down in the relevant Rules, that marriage shall not be considered as an offence under the Act.
One of the major criticisms against this provision was that almost anything could come within the purview of the wide domain of ‘special circumstances’. It could bring marriage of a child who happens to be a rape survivor with the rapist within its purview as well. Therefore, one of the main concerns was that this provision would turn the Act into a rape-marriage law and would exonerate the rapists from prosecution if and when he undergoes marriage with his victim. It was feared that even though the Penal Code of 1860 does not give any impression on marriage being an exonerating touchstone to absolve the rapists, the Child Marriage Restraint Act could prove to do something similar to what is done in certain North-African and Middle Eastern countries’ rape-marriage laws."
Read more here:
https://www.thedailystar.net/law-our-rights/news/marry-your-rapist-phenomena-and-legal-realities-1810705
