Police said the violence occurred in Jessore, 260 kilometres (160 miles) from the capital Dhaka, after some 500 protestors, mostly madrassa students, suddenly attacked officers with sticks and stones.

"We shot rubber bullets to disperse the unruly protesters. It appears that a madrassa student has died in the violence. But we are not sure whether he died of police firing," Jessore police chief Kamrul Ahsan told AFP.

Nanda Dulal Halder, a senior nurse at the Jessore central hospital, told AFP the victim died of bullet wounds. "His body bore bullet marks," he said.

Private news agency bdnews24 quoting witnesses said officers fired live bullets on the protesters after they clashed with police.

At least dozen others including six police officers were also injured in the violence, Ahsan said, adding three officers were in serious condition after being attacked with bamboo sticks.

Police said the protesters marched through the city chanting slogans against the government's move to ensure equal property rights for women in the Muslim majority country.

Small Islamic groups have been staging sporadic protests since the government announced its plan, arguing that it goes against the Koran, Islam's holy book.

Bangladesh, whose population is 90 percent Muslim, has a secular legal system but in matters related to inheritance and marriage Muslims follow sharia law.

Sharia as practised in Bangladesh's inheritance law generally stipulates that a woman would inherit half of what her brother gets. Women's groups have long protested against the disparity and demanded equal rights.

Islamic groups led by firebrand cleric Mufti Fazlul Haq Amini have called a nationwide strike on Monday to press home their demand.

The government has insisted that the new policy does not have any anti Islamic provisions and invited the groups to a dialogue.