The High Court (HC) has issued a ruling asking why disclosing the gender of an unborn baby should not be declared illegal.
On Monday (Feb 3), the bench of justices M Enyetur Rahim and Md Mostafizur Rahman has ordered the defendants to respond to the rule within six weeks.
On Jan 26, Supreme Court lawyer Ishrat Hassan has filed a petition with the HC seeking a ban on disclosing the sex of an unborn baby.
Previously on Dec 1, Hassan sent a legal notice to the secretaries of the health ministry, women and children’s affairs ministry and social welfare ministry over the matter.
In the notice, she asked the ministries to order the clinics and diagnostic centres to stop tests to check the sex of the baby.
She told the media that many people in the country want sons because they believe that they can earn and carry the family forward.
“In this situation, if the sex is revealed during pregnancy and it doesn’t meet the expectations of the parents, it will have a negative effect on the physical and mental well-being of the expecting mother,” she said.
She added that expecting mothers often suffer from depression and it affects the baby as well for which disclosing the gender in Bangladesh should be stopped.