She became a wife at 11. 12 years later, she chose prison over living with her husband. At 24, she became India’s first woman to get a divorce

Divorce is still a huge taboo in India, and women who walk away from an abusive marriage still pay the price in being subjected to nonstop judgement about their character. India continues to have one of the lowest divorce rates – as per a report by The Quint, divorce rates in India stand at just 1 per cent. The numbers reflect the prevalent social attitude towards marriage and divorce in India – social stigma against divorce, financial dependence and children make unhappy couples stay together despite being at loggerheads. And more than a century before these conversations, one young woman decided that marriage could not be a life sentence.

Her name was Rukhmabai Raut.

In 19th-century India, Rukmabai was nothing short of a trailblazer. She defied social norms and legal barriers to become the first Hindu woman to legally obtain a divorce in India.


Rukhmabai's 1885 case, in which she fought against an unwanted marriage and sought a divorce, was a turning point in Indian legal history. It ultimately resulted in Queen Victoria dissolving her marriage and two significant legal changes later on: the Age of Consent Act of 1891 and the subsequent legal abolition of the custom of child marriage.

A Child Bride At 11

Rukmabai Raut was born in Mumbai in 1864. Her mother, a child bride herself, had Rukhmabai at the age of 15 after being married off at the age of 14. When she was seventeen, her husband passed away. Later, her mother married Sakharam Arjun, an eminent physician and social activist in Bombay.

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Rukmabai was married off to the 19-year-old Dadaji Bhikaji, a cousin of her stepfather, when she was only 11. Instead of her moving to his home, it was agreed that Dadaji would become a “gharjawai” (a man who stayed at his in-laws' place) and be provided for by them and receive an education. Dadaji refused this proposal and went to live with his maternal uncle. In the consequent nine years, he accumulated a lot of debt. During the same period, Rukmabai stayed with her mother and stepfather and studied at home.

A Battle For Freedom

In 1884, Dadaji demanded Rukmabai come and live with him. She refused. This sparked a legal battle that held the nation’s attention. Judge Robert Hill Pinhe initially heard the case of "Reinstating the Marital Right of Dadaji Bhikaji", dismissing it on the grounds that Rukhmabai could not be made to stay in the marriage she had entered as a child.

Dadaji filed an appeal, and a two-judge court held a second hearing. In March 1887, Rukhmabai was given the option of joining her husband or being imprisoned for six months when Justice Farhan ruled in Dadaji's favour.

Rukmabai boldly chose imprisonment. This unapologetic decision made her a global icon.

A National Icon

She subsequently embarked on a career as a columnist and started to write for The Times Of India under the pseudonym A Hindu Lady. In her writings she often spoke about women’s rights and social reforms.

Prominent individuals and leaders in Mumbai and throughout India took notice of the matter. In order to mobilise public support for Rukhmabai's cause, the 'Rukhmabai Protection Committee' was established under the leadership of prominent figures like Behramji Malbari and Ramabai Ranade.

Opinions differed greatly in Britain. Many sympathised with Rukhmabai, seeing her as the victim of an unworkable marriage, while others thought that her rejection of Dadaji was a result of her education. Dadaji promised to drop the issue for compensation, while Rukhmabai appealed to the Privy Council in England.

A Historic Verdict

Rukmabai’s story moved Queen Victoria, the then ruler of Britain, and she intervened in the divorce case, leading to Rukmabai becoming the first Hindu woman to obtain a divorce in 1888.

Rukmabai did not rest on her laurels. She eventually moved to London to study medicine at the London School of Medicine for Women. In 1895, she returned to India and worked as the Chief Medical Officer at the Women’s Hospital in Surat. Along with Kadambini Ganguly, Raut is considered to be India’s earliest practising female doctor – with Raut being the second woman to receive a medical degree and practise medicine.

Her divorce case sparked attention both in India and England. It drew the attention of luminaries like Rudyard Kipling, written commentary from reformers like Behramji Malabar and Balgangadhar Tilak, and more general feminist conversations in British women's periodicals.

In the end, this case's exposure and discussion contributed to the Age of Consent Act's passage in 1891, which raised the legal age of consent in British India from 10 to 12.

Rukmabai passed away in 1955. By then, women attending university and having a career were more prevalent, though of course, not as normalised or widespread as they are today. Still, she had set the stage for women to have a life and pursue her goals and not just aspire to be a wife.

Rukhmabai's position marked an important feminist perspective by shifting the emphasis from physical immaturity to the wider effects of child marriage. Rukhmabai argued in court against forcing young girls into marriage, highlighting the negative impacts on their education and mental growth.

In an era where women’s rights were practically unheard of in India, Rukmabai set a precedent by raising conversations about women’s rights in walking away from an unwanted marriage and also the perils of child marriage.

More than half a century after her death, Rukmabai Raut remains a trailblazer who once fearlessly chose a life behind the bars rather than sacrifice her body and soul in an unwanted marriage.