In the context of Indian history, the Rakhmabai case of 1884 revolved around
- 1.women's right to gain education
- 2.age of consent
- 3.restitution of conjugal rights
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
The Rakhmabai case (1884) was a husband's suit for restitution of conjugal rights, that is, to force his wife, married as a child, to live with him. It became a landmark in the age-of-consent controversy that ended with the Age of Consent Act of 1891. It was not a case about a woman's right to education.
- ✗ 1. Rakhmabai was educated, and she disliked her marital home's lack of intellectual atmosphere, but the legal question before the court was not education. It was whether she could be compelled to live with her husband.
- ✓ 2. The case, filed in 1884, kept the issue of child marriage in public debate until the 'consent' controversy of 1888 onwards, which produced the Age of Consent Act of 1891 (minimum age 12 for cohabitation with girl-brides).
- ✓ 3. Dadaji Bhikaji sued Rakhmabai for restitution of conjugal rights. She had been married at nine, her marriage was never consummated, and she was living in her parents' home.
Remember · Rakhmabai case (1884): Dadaji Bhikaji's suit for restitution of conjugal rights against his child-bride wife. It fed the age-of-consent debate leading to the 1891 Act.
Sources
- Contributions to Indian Sociology, Vol. 29 (1995), special issue 'Social reform, sexuality and the state': the Rakhmabai case ↗ · reference work “and was living in her parental home when she was sued for restitution of conjugal rights (Engels 1989: 427-29). Rakhmabai was found guilty by the colonial judicature … In the meanwhile, the Rakhmabai case had been filed in 1884, to drag on until 1888 when the ‘consent’ controversy started, to culminate in the passage of the Age of Consent Act in 1891. … The first two of these dimensions, namely, child marriage and lack of choice in mate selection, were central to the Rakhmabai controversy. … Age of Consent Bill (1891) which laid down the minimum legal age limit of 12 years for cohabiting with girl-brides … Rakhmabai was an educated girl who was married at the age of 9 to an older consumptive husband, Dadaji Bhikaji. Although her marriage was not consummated”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·