FA M I LY L AW Hindu Marriages Registration Act, 2012; and Rules, 2013 S UMMARY Provides for the optional registration of Hindu marriages. A PPL ICAB IL IT Y TO RO H I NGYA This Act is applicable to all Hindus residing in Bangladesh “irrespective of their citizenship,” and therefore Hindu Rohingya in Bangladesh should be covered by this Act. PROTECTIO N NOT ES Rohingya who are of the Hindu faith and who wish to have their marriage registered should be afforded official registration. Hindu Women’s Right to Separate Residence and Maintenance Act, 1946 S UMMARY Provides a Hindu woman the ability to apply for court-ordered separate residence and maintenance from her husband under certain circumstances. A PPL ICAB IL IT Y TO RO H I NGYA The Act extends to the whole of Bangladesh, without reference to citizenship. Therefore, Rohingya women of the Hindu faith who are married to a Hindu man should be covered by this Act. PROTECTIO N NOT ES Hindu women in the Rohingya community who are living in Bangladesh and wish to apply for separate residence and/or maintenance from their Hindu husbands by court order should be afforded the opportunity to apply to the courts. It should be noted that this Act provides only limited acceptable grounds for the courts to issue such an order, including cruelty on the part of a husband, which “renders it unsafe or undesirable for her to live with him” (Section 2.1). Bangladesh currently has no legislation enabling Hindu women to dissolve their marriages via divorce. 26 BE YOND REFU GE: ADVANCING LEG AL PROTECTIONS FOR ROHINGYA C OMMUNITIES IN BANGL ADESH