Rukhmabai 1864 - 1955 - Pascal Theatre Company

Rukhmabai 1864 – 1955

original drawing by Anne Sassoon

Doctor and feminist.

22 November 1864 – 25 September 1955

Background

Born in Bombay, India.

Came to England in 1889.

Education

Studied at home with books from a Free Church Mission Library.

Was exposed to issues debated by religious and social reformers through her mother and stepfather’s contacts.

Childhood

Married at 11 to a 19 year-old, initially living with her mother and step-father.

Reaching puberty, refused to move into her husband’s home – the resulting court case , Dadaji Bhikaji vs Rukhmabai (1885) caught the attention of the British press and public.

Rukhmabai won the case but in 1887 lost in Bhikaji’s appeal hearing. In 1888 Bhikaji withdrew his claim on her in return for financial compensation.

Funded to come to the UK and study medicine.

Some Key Achievements and Interests

Her case generated much debate among those interested in the rights of women and child marriage.

1891 The ‘Age of Consent’ was enacted, influenced by her case, changing the age of consent from 10 to 12 in British India.

1894 Received her Doctor of Medicine from the London School of Medicine for Women becoming the second Indian woman to receive a medical degree and practise medicine.

Returned to India 1894 to work as a doctor, becoming one of the first fully qualified practising doctors.

Issues

Lack of educational opportunities for girls and women especially re marriage:

Summed up in her letter to Times of India:

‘I am one of those unfortunate Hindu women whose hard lot it is to suffer the unnamable miseries entailed by the custom of early marriage. This wicked practice has destroyed the happiness of my life. It comes between me and the thing which I prize above all others – study and mental cultivation. Without the least fault of mine I am doomed to seclusion; every aspiration of mine to rise above my ignorant sisters is looked down upon with suspicion and is interpreted in the most uncharitable manner.’

Connection to Bloomsbury

Studied at London School of Medicine for Women and Royal Free Hospital.

Lived in College Hall.

Writing/Publications

Rukhmabai wrote from a feminist perspective on themes like child marriage, widowhood enforcement, and women’s status in society.

1929, After her retirement, published a pamphlet titled “Purdah – the need for its abolition,” arguing that young widows were being denied contributions to Indian society.