Throughout Bangladesh’s history, more than a hundred women have been sentenced to death for serious crimes. Many have spent years, sometimes decades, inside condemned cells, awaiting the outcome of appeals or a presidential clemency decision. Yet one remarkable fact remains unchanged: since the country’s independence in 1971, not a single woman has been executed in Bangladesh.
This stands in stark contrast to the numerous male death-row inmates whose sentences have been carried out over the same period. The question, therefore, is unavoidable: Is there a legal barrier preventing the execution of women, or does the answer lie elsewhere within the country’s justice system?
Legal Myth vs. Reality
A common misconception persists among the public that Bangladeshi law does not permit the execution of women. Legal experts, however, say this belief is entirely unfounded.
Under Bangladesh’s Penal Code and criminal justice system, men and women are subject to the same punishments. Courts may impose the death penalty on female defendants convicted of murder, terrorism, war crimes, or other capital offenses. In fact, numerous women have received death sentences over the years. The distinction lies not in the law itself, but in what happens after a death sentence is handed down.
From Death Row to Life Imprisonment
In Bangladesh, every death sentence issued by a lower court is automatically reviewed by the High Court Division. Convicted individuals also retain the right to appeal to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. It is during this lengthy judicial review process that many death sentences imposed on women are ultimately commuted to life imprisonment or imprisonment for the remainder of their natural lives.
One of the most prominent examples is Oishee Rahman, who was sentenced to death in 2015 for the murder of her parents. The High Court later reduced her sentence to life imprisonment after considering factors such as her age, mental condition, personal circumstances, and subsequent surrender to authorities.
Similarly, Sharifa Begum spent nearly 24 years under a death sentence before the Appellate Division commuted her punishment to life imprisonment in 2024. Legal practitioners note that courts often take into account social, familial, and humanitarian considerations when reviewing cases involving female defendants, factors that can significantly influence the outcome.
The Long Road Through the Appeals Process
Before a death sentence can be carried out in Bangladesh, a case must pass through several layers of judicial scrutiny. These generally include:
- High Court confirmation of the death sentence (Death Reference)
- Appeal before the Appellate Division
- Review petition
- Presidential clemency application
Completing these stages can take anywhere from ten to twenty years or even longer. Research on Bangladesh’s death penalty system has found that the average time required for final disposal of death sentence cases often exceeds a decade. As a result, many condemned prisoners remain on death row for years without a final resolution.
A notable example is Ayesha Siddika Minni, convicted in the widely publicized Rifat Sharif murder case. Since receiving a death sentence in 2020, she has remained at Kashimpur Women’s Central Jail while her appeal continues through the courts.
For many female death-row inmates, the prolonged legal process itself has become a defining feature of their imprisonment.
Death Row Inmates, But No Gallows
Perhaps one of the most striking aspects of Bangladesh’s prison history is that the country’s largest women’s correctional facility, Kashimpur Women’s Central Jail, was reportedly built without a dedicated execution platform.
Prison officials have previously indicated that, because no woman had ever been executed in independent Bangladesh, authorities did not consider such infrastructure a necessity when the facility was established. Today, a significant portion of the country’s female death-row population is housed within that same prison.
How Many Women Are on Death Row?
According to recent prison statistics, 96 women are currently among Bangladesh’s 2,594 condemned prisoners.(Kaler Kantho) The largest concentration of female death-row inmates is held at Kashimpur Women’s Central Jail in Gazipur. Most were convicted in cases involving murder, family disputes, child killings, or other serious criminal offenses. Several high-profile names have recently been added to the list.
Swapna
Swapna was sentenced to death in the widely discussed rape and murder case of child victim Ramisa in Savar. The verdict was delivered in what was described as one of the country’s fastest criminal trials.
Sheikh Hasina
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has also become one of the most prominent names on the list of female death-row convicts following a verdict delivered by the International Crimes Tribunal.
What History Tells Us
Archived prison records and media reports indicate that while hundreds of executions have been carried out in Bangladesh since independence, all of those executed have been men. Reports published over the years have consistently noted that although dozens of women were sentenced to death, none ultimately faced execution. As a result, Bangladesh continues to maintain a unique and largely overlooked record: for more than five decades, no woman has been sent to the gallows.
Will the Record Be Broken?
For now, the answer remains uncertain. On one hand, courts continue to impose death sentences on female offenders in cases deemed exceptionally grave. On the other hand, judicial review, lengthy appeals, humanitarian considerations, and evolving legal standards frequently result in those sentences being reduced or overturned before reaching the stage of execution.
Consequently, the extraordinary record remains intact. Fifty-five years after independence, Bangladesh has never executed a woman. Whether that record survives the years ahead or eventually becomes history itself will depend on the decisions of the courts, the state, and the evolving direction of the country’s justice system.
