In A Landmark Verdict, Bangladesh To Remove 'Virgin' Criteria From Marriage Certificates

Bangladesh¡¯s top court has said that the word ¡®virgin¡¯ must be removed from Muslim marriage cerificates as it is a very ¡®humiliating and discriminatory¡¯ term. According to the South Asian country¡¯s Muslim marriage laws, a bride has to select one of the three options on the certificate - whether she is a Kumari (virgin), a widow or divorced.

AFP

On Sunday, in a brief verdict, the court ordered the government to remove the term and replace it with ¡®unmarried¡¯, said deputy attorney general Amit Talukder. The court is expected to publish its full verdict by October, with the changes to the certificate expected to come into effect then.

¡°It is a landmark verdict,¡± Aynun Nahar Siddiqua, a lawyer for the groups which filed the case challenging the term in 2014 said. Rights groups in the country have criticised the term - used in certificates since they were introduced in 1961 - saying that it is ¡°humiliating and discriminatory¡±, and that it breached the privacy of the woman getting married.

The judgement also told the authorities to introduce the option of ¡®unmarried, widower or divorced¡¯ for the groom on the certificate.

Bangladesh has the world¡¯s third-largest Muslim majority and nearly 90% of its population is Muslim.