Rukhmabai, one of the first Indian women physicians

Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own. 

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Rukhmabai Raut (22 November 1864 - 25 September 1955)

INTERNET

Rukhmabai, one of the first 

Indian women physicians get 

Google Doodle

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/internet/

rukhmabai-the-first-indian-woman-physician-gets-

google-doodle/article20631634.ece

If women in modern India can assert 

their rights of consent, it is due to Rukhmabai.

Google India on Wednesday paid homage to Rukhmabai, one among 

the first Indian women to practice medicine in colonial India, 

with a doodle.

“Today’s Doodle by illustrator Shreya Gupta shows the 

courageous doctor among her patients, doing the dedicated 

work of a skilled physician ” said Google’s blog post on its doodles.

But Rukhmabai has another feather in her cap. If women in modern 

India can assert their rights of consent, it is due to Rukhmabai 

refusing to recognize her marriage and the case filed by her 

husband thereafter.

Born on this day in 1864 in Bombay, Rukhmabai was the only 

daughter of Janardhan Pandurang and Jayantibai. She lost her father 

when she was eight years old and was married off at the age of 11 to 

Dadaji Bhikaji. Her mother later married Sakharam Arjun, an eminent 

physician and the founding member of Bombay Natural History Society.

Rukhmabai continued to stay with her mother and step-father even 

after marriage. Seven years later, Dadaji moved court seeking it to 

order his wife to live with him. Rukhmabai refused to move in 

with her husband stating that a woman cannot be compelled to 

stay in a wedlock when she is not interested. Her decision was 

supported by her step-father who helped her fight the case in court. 

The Dadaji vs. Rukhmabai case that went on for three years 

triggered a debate in both England and India. The verdict went 

in favour of Dadaji. The court ordered Rukhmabai to live with 

her husband or face six months imprisonment. A brave Rukhmabai 

said she was willing to opt the latter.

The verdict was subsequently overruled by Queen Victoria. 

This prompted the government to bring the Age of Consent 

Act, 1891, despite opposition from conservative Indians.

Rukhmabai legally separated from her husband in 1888 and 

moved to England to study medicine. She got support from 

Dr. Edith Pechey of Bombay’s Cama Hospital, activists, 

and fellow Indians in England to complete her course in

the London School of Medicine for Women. She returned 

to India in 1894 and practiced in Surat, Rajkot, and 

Bombay for the next 35 years. She passed away on 

September 25, 1955.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rukhmabai_Raut