TRW & Co · Family Law
Domestic Violence Lawyer in Chittagong (Chattogram)
A domestic violence lawyer in Chittagong helps women and children obtain fast protection from abuse within the family. The Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2010 lets a magistrate order an abuser to stop, keep away, pay compensation and leave the shared home. We explain the orders, the process in Chattogram and how to protect money and children.
Key pointA residence order under section 15 of the 2010 Act can keep a wife in the shared household, or require alternative housing, even where the home belongs to her in-laws; ownership is irrelevant to that protection.
At a glance
Four forms of abuse
Section 3 of the 2010 Act covers physical, psychological, sexual and economic abuse of a woman or child by a family member.
Magistrates hear applications
Applications go to a Judicial Magistrate or, in Chattogram city, a Metropolitan Magistrate, in the area of either party or the incident.
Interim orders available quickly
The magistrate can make an interim protection order on a prima facie case, before the respondent is heard, with notice to show cause.
Breach is a crime
Breaching a protection order carries up to six months' imprisonment or a Tk 10,000 fine, rising to two years or Tk 1 lakh on repetition.
Helplines in an emergency
Call the National Emergency Service on 999 or the government's 109 helpline for violence against women and children.
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What a domestic violence lawyer in Chittagong handles
A domestic violence lawyer in Chittagong helps a woman or child who is being abused within the family to obtain fast, enforceable protection from the courts, and then to secure housing, money and the safety of children. The core tool is the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2010, which lets a magistrate order an abuser to stop, stay away and pay, without first requiring a full criminal trial.
The Act covers more than physical assault. It recognises physical, psychological, sexual and economic abuse, which includes threats, humiliation, controlling behaviour, forced sexual acts and the withholding of money, property or necessities a woman is entitled to. Abuse by a husband is the commonest case we see, but in-laws and other relatives living in the same family can also be respondents.
In Chattogram, these matters often arrive tangled with other problems: a dower or maintenance dispute, a husband working in the Gulf, a joint-family home in which the wife has no title, or a parallel criminal case. A good plan addresses safety first and then puts each claim in the right forum.
If you are in immediate danger, call the National Emergency Service on 999 or the government's 109 helpline for violence against women and children. Legal steps come next, and they can move quickly.
The legal framework: the 2010 Act and related laws
Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2010
The Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2010 (Act No. 58 of 2010) protects women and children who suffer violence from a person with whom they are in a family relationship, by marriage, blood, adoption or a joint family. Section 3 defines domestic violence as physical, psychological, sexual or economic abuse.
An application may be made by the victim or on her behalf by a police officer, an Enforcement Officer, a registered service provider or any other person. The Enforcement Officer is usually the Upazila Women Affairs Officer, who can help prepare the application, arrange medical care and shelter, and report to the court.
Applications are heard by a Judicial Magistrate or, in metropolitan areas, a Metropolitan Magistrate. The applicant can choose the court for the area where she lives, where the respondent lives, where the violence happened, or where she is temporarily staying. That choice matters for a woman who has fled to her parents' home in another part of Chattogram district.
The Act's proceedings are designed to be quicker than a criminal trial. The magistrate can act on a prima facie case, and the Act sets time limits for hearings and decisions. Appeals lie to the Chief Judicial Magistrate or, in the city, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate.
Related laws
The 2010 Act sits alongside other remedies a domestic violence lawyer in Chittagong may use:
- Penal Code 1860 for hurt, grievous hurt, wrongful confinement and criminal intimidation, prosecuted through the police or a complaint to the magistrate.
- Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000, amended by ordinance in 2025, for serious offences such as rape, dowry-related violence and abduction, tried by special tribunals.
- Dowry Prohibition Act 2018 for demanding or giving dowry.
- Family Courts Act 2023 for dower, maintenance, custody and dissolution of marriage.
- Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939, which recognises cruelty, including habitual assault, as a ground on which a wife can obtain a divorce.
Orders a magistrate can make
The 2010 Act gives magistrates a toolkit of civil-style orders backed by criminal sanctions. Breaching a protection order is itself an offence, punishable on a first breach with up to six months' imprisonment, a fine of up to Tk 10,000 or both, and on a repeat breach with up to two years' imprisonment, a fine of up to Tk 1 lakh or both.
| Order | Section | What it does | When it is used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interim protection order | 13 | Immediate restraint, made on a prima facie case, with notice to the respondent to show cause | Urgent risk; can be made before the respondent is heard |
| Protection order | 14 | Prohibits further violence, contact, and entry to the victim's home, workplace or children's school | After a hearing finds that violence occurred or is likely |
| Residence order | 15 | Protects the victim's right to live in the shared home, removes the respondent, or requires alternative housing | A wife facing eviction from the marital or joint-family home |
| Compensation and maintenance order | 16 | Payment for injury, medical costs, lost income, property damage and maintenance for the victim and children | Financial loss or economic abuse |
| Custody order | 17 | Temporary custody of children to the victim | Children at risk or being used as leverage |
A residence order does not decide who owns the property. It protects a woman's right to remain in, or be housed away from, the shared household while the abuse is addressed. Ownership questions remain for the civil courts.
Choosing the right route: protection order, criminal case or Family Court
Most clients come to a domestic violence lawyer in Chittagong asking whether to "file a case". There are three main routes, and they can run together.
Protection under the 2010 Act
Best where the priority is to stop the abuse, stay in or return safely to the home, and obtain interim support, without necessarily seeking imprisonment. The process is quicker, and the court can tailor orders to the family's situation.
A criminal case
Appropriate where there has been serious injury, sexual violence, dowry-related violence, or a pattern of conduct that calls for prosecution. A case begins with an FIR at the police station or a complaint before the magistrate; our guide on filing a GD or FIR in Chattogram explains the first step, and our repression case lawyers handle tribunal cases.
Family Court claims
Dower, maintenance, custody and divorce are decided by the Family Courts. A protection order can provide interim maintenance, but long-term support and unpaid dower usually need a Family Court suit; see our maintenance lawyers and child custody team.
Safety first, then money and children. The right order of remedies matters as much as the remedies themselves.
How a protection case works in Chattogram
A domestic violence lawyer in Chittagong will usually take a protection application through these stages:
- Immediate safety. Call 999 or 109 in an emergency, seek medical treatment and keep the records. Move to a safe address if needed; the Enforcement Officer can help with shelter.
- Choose the court. File before the Metropolitan Magistrate for the city or the Judicial Magistrate for the relevant area, based on where you live, where the respondent lives or where the violence took place.
- Prepare the application. Set out the family relationship, each incident with dates, the harm suffered and the orders sought. Attach medical reports, photographs, messages and witness details.
- Interim order. Where there is a prima facie case, ask the magistrate for an interim protection order and, where needed, interim residence, custody or maintenance terms.
- Notice and reply. The respondent is served and given time to show cause. Service of orders on the respondent and the police matters for later enforcement.
- Hearing and final orders. The magistrate hears both sides and may make protection, residence, compensation and custody orders. The Act aims for disposal within set time limits.
- Enforcement and follow-up. Report any breach promptly; breach is a separate offence. Run any Family Court or criminal proceedings alongside, so the orders fit together.
Local practice in Chattogram
Inside the metropolitan area, applications go to the Metropolitan Magistrates under the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, whose courts sit in the court complex in the Kotwali area; the Chattogram district judiciary lists the courts and their e-services. For the upazilas, from Sitakunda and Mirsarai in the north to Patiya, Anwara and Banshkhali in the south, applications go to the Judicial Magistrates under the Chief Judicial Magistrate.
Police support usually comes from the station covering the victim's home, within the Chattogram Metropolitan Police area or the district police outside it. Women Affairs officers at upazila level act as Enforcement Officers, and One-Stop Crisis Centres in public medical college hospitals combine medical care, police liaison and legal referral. A domestic violence lawyer in Chittagong who knows these offices can save a frightened client several wasted journeys.
Where the wife's maintenance under the 1961 Ordinance is also in issue, the City Corporation's arbitration process may already be involved, and orders should be coordinated with it. Our dower lawyers often run those claims alongside.
Write a dated list of incidents now, even if you are not ready to file. Magistrates respond to specific, consistent accounts, and memory fades quickly under stress. Store the list and copies of evidence somewhere the abuser cannot reach, such as a relative's phone or an email account he does not know.
Evidence and documents
Protection orders can be made on a prima facie case, but stronger evidence leads to faster, broader orders and fewer adjournments. Useful material includes:
- medical records and injury certificates from the hospital or a One-Stop Crisis Centre;
- photographs of injuries and damaged property, with dates;
- text messages, voice notes and social media threats, preserved with screenshots and the original device;
- any general diary (GD) entries or police complaints already made;
- statements from neighbours, relatives or doctors who saw injuries or heard incidents;
- the kabinnama and children's birth registration certificates;
- evidence of the respondent's income and the family's expenses, for maintenance and compensation.
Online harassment by a spouse or relative often accompanies physical abuse. Our cyber crime lawyers can help preserve digital evidence properly.
Risks and common mistakes
Waiting until the abuse escalates
Many women wait for a single serious incident before taking any step, often because of family pressure or fear of losing the home. Meanwhile the evidence of earlier abuse is lost. The 2010 Act exists precisely to intervene early. An interim protection order can be sought on a prima facie case, and it sends a clear message to the respondent and his family. Even if you are not ready to file, record incidents and keep medical records. Speaking with a domestic violence lawyer in Chittagong does not commit you to court; it gives you a plan you can use when you are ready.
Signing "compromise" papers under pressure
Families often arrange settlements in which a wife signs a statement withdrawing complaints, waiving dower or accepting a small payment. Offences under the 2010 Act are compoundable, so a genuine settlement is possible, but a signature obtained under pressure can undermine later claims. Never sign anything at a police station, an elders' meeting or a relative's house without reading it and taking advice. If a settlement is right for you, it should be written properly, protect the children, and preserve your dower and maintenance rights.
Leaving the home without a plan
Leaving may be necessary for safety, and the law does not penalise a woman for doing so. But a woman who leaves without documents, money or a residence order can find it difficult to return, and the respondent may change locks or sell belongings. Where possible, take identity documents, the kabinnama, children's papers, medicines and evidence. Then ask the magistrate for a residence order protecting your right to the shared household or requiring alternative accommodation. Custody can be addressed in the same application.
Choosing the wrong forum
Filing a serious criminal charge where the real need is protection and support, or filing only a protection application where there has been grievous injury, can both backfire. A weak criminal case may fail and harden positions; a protection order alone may not reflect the seriousness of what happened. Equally, dower and long-term maintenance belong in the Family Court. Map each problem to its forum at the outset so that the proceedings support each other rather than contradict each other.
False or exaggerated allegations
The Act punishes a person who files a complaint knowing it to be false, with up to one year's imprisonment, a fine of up to Tk 50,000 or both. Exaggeration also damages credibility. Keep the application accurate and supported by evidence. Respondents who face genuinely false allegations should respond through the proper process rather than retaliating, and should keep evidence of their own conduct, including any payments to the family.
If you are the respondent
We also act for husbands and relatives named in applications. A respondent should comply with any interim order immediately, even if he disputes it, because breach is a separate offence regardless of the merits. Offences under the Act are bailable, and the hearing is the place to answer the allegations.
A measured response helps: a clear written reply, evidence of payments and contact, and a realistic proposal for children and housing. Where the application is part of a wider dispute over divorce or dower, a domestic violence lawyer in Chittagong can often negotiate an overall settlement that the court records, rather than fighting each claim separately. Where allegations lead to criminal charges, our criminal defence lawyers take over that strand.
Cross-border cases and probashi families
Many Chattogram families have one member working in the Gulf, Malaysia or the UK. Abuse can come from in-laws while the husband is abroad, or from a husband during visits home. The 2010 Act applies to the family relationship, so relatives in the shared household can be respondents even if the husband is overseas.
Where the respondent lives abroad, service, enforcement and maintenance become harder, and remedies may need to be combined with Family Court claims and, sometimes, action in the country where he works. Bangladesh is not a party to the Hague Child Abduction Convention, so preventing a child from being taken out of the country is usually easier than securing a return afterwards.
TRW & Co's offices in Dhaka, Singapore, Dubai and London can help coordinate with counsel abroad. Women living overseas who face abuse from a Chattogram-based family, or who want to end the marriage, can work with our NRB divorce lawyers without returning first.
How TRW & Co helps
Our Chattogram office at Room 4022, Annex 2, District and Sessions Judge Court Building, Court Hill (Porir Pahar), Kotwali, Chattogram 4000, handles domestic violence matters discreetly, with meetings arranged so that clients can attend safely.
Urgent protection applications
We prepare and file applications for interim protection, residence and custody orders before the Metropolitan or Judicial Magistrates, and appear at the hearing.
Safety and evidence planning
We help organise medical records, digital evidence and witness statements, and coordinate with the Enforcement Officer, shelters and service providers.
Money and housing
We pursue compensation and maintenance under the 2010 Act, and dower and long-term maintenance in the Family Court, so that support does not stop.
Children
We seek temporary custody orders and then guardianship and custody in the Family Court, with travel restrictions where removal abroad is a risk.
Criminal proceedings
Where prosecution is appropriate, we assist with FIRs and complaints and represent victims before the tribunals; we also defend respondents and seek bail.
Settlement and divorce
Where the marriage is ending, we coordinate protection with talaq, khula or dissolution, and record any settlement so that it is enforceable.
For related matters, see our family law practice, our divorce lawyers and our guide to getting a protection order under the 2010 Act.
Checklist for anyone facing domestic violence
- In an emergency, call 999 or the 109 helpline and get medical treatment.
- Write a dated record of incidents and store it safely.
- Keep medical records, photographs and messages, with backups.
- Secure identity documents, the kabinnama and children's papers.
- Decide which court is most practical: where you live, where he lives or where the violence happened.
- Ask for interim protection, and for residence, custody and maintenance terms where needed.
- Plan Family Court claims for dower, maintenance and custody alongside.
- Do not sign settlement papers without independent advice.
Free legal aid may be available through the government's legal aid system, reachable on the 16430 helpline; see our guide to free legal aid in Chattogram. To speak to a domestic violence lawyer in Chittagong in confidence, contact our Chattogram office at info@trw.co or +880 1779 127165, or see all our practice areas.
Frequently asked questions
01Who can apply for a protection order in Chattogram?
The woman or child who has suffered violence can apply, or someone can apply on her behalf, including a police officer, the Enforcement Officer (usually the Upazila Women Affairs Officer), a registered service provider or any other person. The application goes to the Metropolitan Magistrate for the city or the Judicial Magistrate for the relevant area. You can file where you live, where the respondent lives, where the violence happened or where you are temporarily staying.
02Does the Act cover abuse that is not physical?
Yes. Section 3 of the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2010 covers psychological abuse, such as threats, humiliation and controlling behaviour, sexual abuse, and economic abuse, such as withholding money, property or necessities to which the woman is entitled. Many applications combine several forms. Clear, dated evidence of each incident, including messages and witness accounts, makes these allegations easier for the magistrate to assess.
03Can I stay in my husband's family home?
The magistrate can make a residence order under section 15 protecting your right to live in the shared household, prohibiting the respondent from entering or dispossessing you, or requiring him to arrange alternative accommodation. This protection does not depend on who owns the house. It does not decide ownership, which remains a question for the civil courts, but it can keep you housed safely while the abuse is addressed.
04How fast can I get an order?
The magistrate can make an interim protection order on a prima facie case without first hearing the respondent, who is then given notice to show cause. The Act sets time limits for hearings and decisions, though actual timing depends on the court's list and on service. A well-prepared application with medical records and specific dates gives the magistrate the confidence to act at the first hearing.
05What happens if he breaches the order?
Breach of a protection order is a separate offence. A first breach is punishable with up to six months' imprisonment, a fine of up to Tk 10,000 or both, and a repeat breach with up to two years' imprisonment, a fine of up to Tk 1 lakh or both. Report the breach promptly to the police and the court, with evidence, and keep a copy of the order with you.
06Should I file a criminal case or a protection application?
It depends on what happened and what you need. A protection application is quicker and focuses on stopping the abuse, housing, compensation and children. A criminal case is appropriate for serious injury, sexual violence or dowry-related violence. Dower, long-term maintenance and divorce belong in the Family Court. Many clients use more than one route, in an order planned at the outset.
07Can a man use the Domestic Violence Act?
The 2010 Act protects women and children only. A man who suffers violence from a family member can use the general criminal law, such as Penal Code offences of hurt, intimidation and wrongful confinement, by filing an FIR or a complaint before the magistrate. Men named as respondents under the Act can defend the application, and the Act penalises complaints known to be false.
Sources and official materials
- Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2010 — Official text published by the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs
- Family Courts Act 2023 — Dower, maintenance, custody and dissolution in the Family Court
- Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939 — Cruelty as a ground for a wife's divorce
- Chattogram District Judiciary — Magistrates' courts and e-services in Chattogram
- Redress against domestic violence (The Daily Star) — Overview of orders and penalties under the 2010 Act
- When danger strikes, where can women turn? (The Daily Star, 2025) — 109 and 999 helplines and One-Stop Crisis Centres
General information only, current as at 2 November 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create an advocate–client relationship. It reflects the law of Bangladesh unless stated otherwise, and the law, court practice and official fees change frequently. Check current official sources and take advice on the facts of your matter.
