The High Court (HC) has ordered dropping the term 'Kumari' or maiden and replacing it with ‘unmarried’ for women in the Muslim marriage contract.

It also ordered that the man’s marital status (married, unmarried, widower or divorced) be included in section 4 (a) of the contract widely known as ‘Kabin naama.’

The bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Khizir Ahmed Choudhury gave the order on Sunday (Aug 25) after the hearing of a petition in this regard.

On Sept 7, 2014, rights organisations Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust and Naripokkho, and Bangladesh Mohila Parishad filed a petition with the HC.

The petition challenged the legality of column 5 of the contract which categorises the marital status of a woman as ‘maiden,’ ‘widowed’ or ‘divorced.’

The court issued a rule same year asking why column 5 should not be declared discriminatory and illegal.

The rule also asked for an explanation on why the term ‘maiden’ shouldn’t be scrapped and why the man’s marital status should not be added to the contract.

During the hearing, Supreme Court lawyer Belayet Hossain who represented the petitioners said that the term shouldn’t exist in the contract.

“It violates the privacy and honour of an individual which is contradictory to the Constitution,” he said.

He added that even the Muslim laws do not make it necessary for the term to exist.