Rukhmabai
| Rukhmabai | |
|---|---|
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| Born | November 22, 1864 |
| Died | 25 September 1955 (aged 90) |
| Occupation | Doctor, women's emancipation |
Rukhmabai (22 November 1864 - 25 September 1955) was an Indian physician and feminist. She is best known for being one of the first practicing women doctors in colonial India as well as being involved in a landmark case that involved her marriage as a child bride between 1884 and 1888. The case raised significant public debate across several topics most prominently of which included law vs tradition, social reform vs conservatism and feminism in both British-ruled India and England, which ultimately contributed to the Age of Consent Act in 1891.
Rukhmabai was born to Janardhan Pandurang and Jayantibai in a Marathi family. Her father passed away when she was aged two and her mother seventeen. After 6 years of her husbands demise, Jayantibai married the widower Dr Sakharam Arjun who was an eminent physician and social activist in Bombay. Remarriage of widows was permitted among the Suthar (carpenter) community - the caste to which the couple belonged.
Two and a half years later, aged 11 Rukhmabai was married to the 19 year old Dadaji Bhikaji, a cousin of her step-father. It was agreed that deviating from the contemporary social norms, Dadaji would stay with Rukhmabai's family as a gharjawai and be fully provided for by them. The expectation was for him to acquire education in due course and "become a good man". Six months into the marriage, Rukhmabai having reached puberty, the traditional event of Garbhadhan was held signalling the time for ritual consummation of marriage. But Dr Sakharam Arjun, being an eminent physician of reformist tendencies, did not permit early consummation.
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