Rezaul Karim v. Mst. Taslima Begum, 3 May 1987.
The petitioner had been arrested under the Bangladesh Dowry Prohibition Act, 1980, after he refused to take Mst. Taslima Begum, whom he had married under Moslem shariat, to his home unless her family paid him Tk. 10,000 in return. At the beginning of the marriage, Mst. Taslima Begum had lived at the home of her father and was visited there often by the petitioner as husband, with the result that she conceived and gave birth to a child.  The petitioner demanded that the proceeding be quashed, arguing that the demand for money did not come within the definition of dowry under the Act, that is, demanding money in consideration for marriage.  The Court disagreed, holding that the demand for money by a husband after marriage in exchange for giving the wife the status of a wife, maintaining and supporting her as a wife, and providing her with shelter as a wife amounts to a demand for dowry.
D001208:Asia; D001459:Bangladesh; D003710:Demography; D003906:Developing Countries; D005843:Geography; D007514:Islam; D007603:Jurisprudence; D008393:Marriage; D011153:Population; D012067:Religion; D012111:Residence Characteristics
Asia; Bangladesh; Court Decision; Developing Countries; Dowry--legal aspects; Geographic Factors; Islam; Living Arrangements--legal aspects; Marriage--legal aspects; Nuptiality; Population; Religion; Residence Characteristics; Southern Asia; Spatial Distribution