Rukhmabai

Rukhmabai, also known as Rakhmabai, was an Indian woman who is known for being the first practising woman doctor in colonial India. She is also known for the 1885 case surrounding her child marriage to Dadaji Bhikaji, which was at the centre of debates leading to the passage of the Age of Consent Act, 1891, which raised the age of consent for marriage for girls in India from 10 to 12.

Rukhmabai was formally married to her husband when she was 11 and he was 19.[1] She remained living with her parents for a number of years before being summoned to live with her husband. Her husband initiated a court action for "restitution of conjugal rights".

After a series of court cases which resulted in the affirmation of the marriage, she wrote to Queen Victoria who overruled the court and dissolved the marriage.[2] The publicity helped influence the passage of the Age of Consent Act, 1891 which outlawed child marriages across the British Empire.[2]

From 1889-1894 she studied medicine at the London School of Medicine for Women and after becoming a doctor returned to India to lead a hospital in Poona.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Lahiri, Shompa (2013-10-18). Indians in Britain: Anglo-Indian Encounters, Race and Identity, 1880-1930. Routledge. pp. 13–. ISBN 9781135264468. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  2. 1 2 Rappaport, Helen (2003). Queen Victoria: A Biographical Companion. ABC-CLIO. pp. 429–. ISBN 9781851093557. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  3. ↑ Sorabji, Richard (2010-06-15). Opening Doors: The Untold Story of Cornelia Sorabji, Reformer, Lawyer and Champion of Women's Rights in India. Penguin Books India. pp. 32–. ISBN 9781848853751. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
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