Power of words

Rukhmabai was an Indian physician, who was born in 1864 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. She was one of the first practicing women doctors in colonial India. The Rukhmabai case, which took place in 1884, was a landmark legal case in colonial India that raised issues of women’s rights and the status of women in society. **The case  sparked debates on the age of consent for marriage when Rakhmbai refused to obey .** The case involved Rukhmabai’s refusal to live with her husband, Dadaji Bhikaji, whom she had been married to at the age of 11, in a practice known as “child marriage”. Later, when she was 19, her husband sent a notice demanding that she come and live with him . Rukhmabai refused to comply, citing her right to education and her desire to complete her medical studies in England. Her husband sued her for restitution of conjugal rights. Rukhmabai was supported by her mentor and the founding member of National Indian Association, Dr. Edith Pechey , and a number of prominent Indi...