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the deadline · Dhaka · Bangladesh

Is it too late to report in Dhaka?

Probably later than you think.

Dhaka does have a deadline, and it is quoted in full below rather than summarised. It is measured against the law, not against how long you have been quiet.

Some of this comes from support organisations or published research rather than an official source in Bangladesh. Sources are below.

Start a reportYou can read this page without writing anything.

the deadline in Dhaka, quoted in full

No official source sets out a fixed deadline for reporting rape to the police in Dhaka. Once a case is filed, the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act sets a 15-day investigation period and a 90-day trial period. A judge can extend that.

We quote this rather than shorten it. A shortened deadline is a wrong deadline, and this is the sentence a lawyer would want to read.

2 different clocks

The exam window runs in hours. The deadline runs in years.

the exam window in Dhaka

The One-Stop Crisis Centre at Dhaka Medical College Hospital can carry out the forensic medical exam alongside police and counselling support. The exam is for evidence collection, such as swabs and blood samples, and is not a general STI or HIV test. No official source gives a fixed time window, but earlier examination preserves more evidence.

This is the clock that runs out fast. You can be examined without deciding whether to go to the police.

the limitation period

This is the deadline for the case itself — how long the law gives before a prosecution can no longer be brought. It is usually many years for rape, and often longer or unlimited when the survivor was a child.

Missing the exam window does not mean the limitation period has passed. They are separate clocks.

where to report in Dhaka

You can report at any Dhaka police station or by calling 999. Dhaka Medical College Hospital runs a One-Stop Crisis Centre (OCC), one of Bangladesh's original such centres. There you can be seen by medical staff and connected to police at the same visit. 2 Dhaka-based organisations, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad and the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association, also offer legal support to survivors.

The full guide for Dhaka: what to bring, the exam, the station, every source

if the deadline has passed

A closed case is not the same as no record.

If the period above has run out where you are, a prosecution may no longer be possible. That is the plain truth and we will not dress it up. 3 things are still open to you.

  • a timestamped report

    What you write here is dated and kept. Years later, a record that existed before anyone asked for it carries weight a memory does not.

  • a sealed report that can match

    Seal it against an identifier — a profile link, a phone, a workplace. Nobody sees it until someone else names the same person. Their case may still be inside the deadline.

  • a pin on the map

    Publish it and the next person searching Dhaka can see it. He stays an alias unless a court, the police or the press have already published his name.

Many countries also treat the clock differently when the survivor was a child, when the offence is ongoing, or when new evidence appears. A support organisation in this list can tell you whether that applies to you.

who can tell you today

People in Dhaka who do this every day.

These are independent of Escrow. They know how the deadline is read in practice where you are, and they can also just talk.

sources

The deadline above came from one of these.

the honest note

This is information, not legal advice.

Nobody here is your lawyer. The deadline above is quoted from a source we read, and the date we read it is beside it. Laws change, and an office may read a deadline differently from the statute. For your own case, ask a lawyer or a support organisation in Dhaka.

If something here is out of date, write to hello@escrow.nanocorp.app and we will check it and say when we did.

when you are ready

There is no deadline for writing it down here. A report on Escrow can be made years afterwards, and nothing happens until you say so.

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