Dhaka, June 10 -- Speaking at a seminar at the nation's premier institute of learning, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md. Asaduzzaman spoke of his personal opposition to the death penalty from a human rights perspective, before adding that even so, the Ramisa rape-and-murder case hit him differently.

"Personally, I am against the death penalty," the minister said. "It is part of my campaign in support of human rights. However, when we see the way an eight-year-old child is murdered, in this social reality, if we move to abolish the death penalty right now, it could create a social backlash for us. We have to keep that in mind."

He made the remarks today at a seminar titled 'Legal Representation in Death Penalty Cases in...