Rukhmabai Rao

19th-century Indian physician and feminist who challenged child marriage laws

Rukhmabai Rao (1864-1955) was a pioneering Indian physician and women's rights activist whose 1888 legal battle against forced child marriage became a landmark case in British India. As one of India's first female doctors, she practiced medicine in Mumbai while advocating for women's education and legal reforms. Her defiance of a 12-year-old arranged marriage to a man 14 years her senior sparked national debate about women's autonomy. The case reached the Privy Council in London, leading to the 1891 Age of Consent Act that prohibited child marriages. Dr. Rao's autobiography The Laws of the People of India Relating to Women remains a critical feminist text. She later served as Superintendent of the Grant Medical College for Women, establishing India's first women's medical training program. Her legacy endures through the Rukhmabai Award for women in healthcare, and her story is featured in Encyclopedia Britannica's feminist history section.