Fatwas are pronounced on adultery, rape, divorce etc and the verdict invariably goes against women. The punishment meted out is lashing, whipping, stoning and or fine. There are instances of a number of women succumbing to lashing and stoning. Apart from social boycott. Those who survive the ordeal had to live with the social stigma for the rest of their lives.
Many women commit suicide out of shame and discriminatory treatment.
Nurjahan subsequently committed suicide. In 1998 in Manikganj, a couple also committed suicide when their marriage was declared illegal by a Fatwa court and both the wife and husband were awarded lashing and fine in public. Similar cases of whipping and stoning including burning by Fatwa were also reported from Madhukhali in Faridpur District, at Kaliganj in Satkhira, Jakiganj in Sylhet District in 1999. In the month of September 1999 there were reports of at least four Fatwa related deaths. The argument put forward by the half-educated Mullahs behind stoning and lashing is that the women in question are to be purified by this method.