<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">The High Court on Thursday asked the authorities concerned not to force students to disclose their marital status in admission form in educational institutions.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The HC bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Md Khairul Alam passed the order after hearing a writ petition.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Deputy Attorney General Amit Das Gupta represented the state.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On November 14, 2017, Advocates Fariha Ferdous and Nahid Sultana filed a writ petition attaching a report published in a national daily headlined “What the girl will do now?”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to the report, on June 6, 2013, a class X girl was raped but the rapists denied the allegation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When the girl became pregnant, she was admitted to the one stop crisis centre of Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital and she lodged a complaint against the rapist, said the report.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Police arrested the rapist and a DNA test proved that the rapist was the father of the child.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Later, a court ordered sending the girl to residential centre under Rajshahi division ‘Women Assistance Programme’ of the government.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During living at the centre, the girl appeared in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination and during her exam she gave birth to a baby boy on February 19, 2014.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, she passed the SSC exam with GPA 4.3 and appeared her Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination from there.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Later, she was sent to her house and also passed the HSC exam with GPA 3.17.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On May 30, 2017, a court sentenced the rapist to life imprisonment and asked to bear the expenses of the baby boy. The court also fined him Tk one lakh</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She was put in the category of married women during the public examinations though she was unmarried.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The girl was unable to fill up the admission form of a nursing college due to her marital status as she was not married and had a child.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On December 11, 2018, the HC issued a rule asking the government to explain as to why the option of marital status in admission process in educational institutions should not be declared unconstitutional.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The HC also issued another rule asking the government to explain as to why directives should not be given to formulate a meaningful policy in this regard.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The court also asked to take steps as the girl can get enrolled in a nursing college immediately. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>