The Rakhmabaia case of 1884 revolved around
In the context of Indian history, the Rakhmabaia case of 1884 revolved around:
- Women's right to gain education
- Age of consent
- Restitution of conjugal rights
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
Answer: B
Explanation
Rukhmabai (1864-1955) was the first practising female doctor in colonial India. Rukhmabai also made her mark in history due to the legal case she was involved in, which contributed to the enactment of the Age of Consent Act, 1891.
She was married off at the young age of eleven, while her husband, Dadaji Bhikaji was nineteen years old. He later got in touch with her, perhaps interested in the money she had inherited after her mother passed away. She refused to go, continued to live with her stepfather and pursued her education, going against the norms of society. In 1885, after 12 years of marriage, Bhikaji sought "restitution of conjugal rights".
The British precedents could not be implied in this case, as British law was meant to be applied in the case of consenting adults. Justice Pinhey found this limitation in British law and found no previous cases of such nature in Hindu law. Hence his judgement on the case stated that Rukhmabai had been wed as an innocent child, had no say in the matter and now couldn’t be forced.
In March 1887, Rukhmabai was ordered to go live with her husband or spend six months in jail. Determined about her decision to not to return to Dadaji and to continue her education, Rukhmabai bravely said that she would rather face maximum penalty than accept the verdict given.
Subsequently, after numerous hearings, the marriage was affirmed, where Rukhmabai wrote to Queen Victoria. The Queen overruled the court’s verdict and dissolved the marriage. In July of 1888, Dadaji accepted monetary compensation of two thousand rupees to dissolve the marriage.
It was a case that got a lot of attention in Britain too, where women’s magazines covered it. The ripples that the case created led to the influence on the passage of the Age of Consent Act, 1891, which made child marriages illegal across the British Empire.
- Exam Year: 2020