Proposals for Repealing Section 155(4) of the Evidence Act 1872: A Critical Appraisal and Suggestions

Section 155(4) of the Evidence Act 1872 of Bangladesh suggests that a rape victim can be proved as a woman of general immoral character before the court with a view to shaking her credibility. This colonial law has been under strict criticism for a very long time. However, the definition of rape in Bangladesh is not proper and complete. It provides that the job of deceitfully obtaining consent for intercourse constitutes rape despite the fact that this term "deceitfully obtained consent" is not well defined. This lack of clarity is being misused for filing false or malicious rape charges. This paper focuses on this problem at the very first instance before moving on to the utility of section 155(4) in this regard. It thereby proposes to not delete the section 155(4) rather suggests amendment some new amendment on the basis of a revivalist approach.