The government on Monday approved in principle the draft Pornography Control Bill 2011 with provisions for imprisonment and fine to check production and marketing of all kinds of pornography.
The home affairs ministry placed the draft bill at the weekly meeting of the cabinet against the backdrop of widespread production and exhibition of the pornography through internet and other means such as compact discs and magazines.
‘The draft bill has proposed a ban on production, exhibition, preservation and marketing of pornography, with provisions for a maximum punishment of 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of Taka five lakh for committing the crime,’ prime minister’s press secretary Abul Kalam Azad said after the meeting.
He said the move had been initiated as there was no law at present to stop production or possession of pornography which was now widespread in the country, causing moral degeneration of the young people.
The police earlier drafted the bill after consulting laws in different countries including Canada, Italy and Sweden, but also taking into account Bangladesh’s particular social and religious contexts, said sources in the police headquarter.
At present, the police say pornographic CDs, DVDs and photographs are available throughout the country.
According to the intelligence agencies, many actors, models, schoolgirls, college and university students and different professionals are duped into involvement in video pornography.
They say that organised gangs, including some college and university students, make pornographic CDs by trapping and drugging innocent girls.
They also lure young girls into their dens with marriage proposals and then shoot porno videos, the sources added.
Courtesy of New Age
