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Remembered on her birthday · 22 November 1864 – 25 September 1955

Dr Rukhmabai Raut: Child Bride Turned Doctor and Reformer

Rukhmabai refused to live with a husband chosen for her as a child, fought a landmark court case, and went on to become one of the first Indian women to practise medicine. Here is her story, and why it still matters for women in science today.

Quick facts

  • Born: 22 November 1864, Bombay (now Mumbai)
  • Died: 25 September 1955, aged 90
  • Known for: a landmark court case over her child marriage (1884–1888), and for becoming one of the first Indian women to practise Western medicine
  • Trained at: the London School of Medicine for Women, with qualifications from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Brussels in the mid-1890s
  • Career: chief medical officer at the women’s hospital in Surat from 1895, later at the Zenana hospital in Rajkot; retired around 1929–30
  • Also known as: Rukhmabai Raut, Rakhmabai

A childhood marriage she refused to accept

Rukhmabai was born in Bombay in 1864. Her father died when she was very young, and her mother later married Dr Sakharam Arjun, a physician and social reformer who encouraged her to keep learning. At the age of 11, she was married to Dadaji Bhikaji, who was 19.

Her stepfather would not allow the marriage to be consummated while she was still a child, so Rukhmabai continued to live with her family and to study. She read widely at home, met reformers and took part in women’s gatherings. Dadaji, meanwhile, ran into debts and, in time, demanded that she come to live with him. She refused.

The court case that shook colonial India

In 1884 Dadaji went to court seeking “restitution of conjugal rights”, an order that would have forced her to live with him. When the case was heard in 1885, the judge ruled for Rukhmabai, noting that she had been married in her infancy and could not be compelled. On appeal the decision was reversed, and in March 1887 she was ordered to live with her husband or face six months in prison. Rukhmabai said she would rather go to prison.

Throughout the case she wrote in the Times of India under the pen name “A Hindu Lady”, arguing against child marriage. The dispute was debated in newspapers in India and Britain and drew in reformers, nationalists and writers on every side. In 1888 it ended in a settlement: Dadaji gave up his claim in return for ₹2,000.

Historians link the publicity around the case to the Age of Consent Act of 1891, which raised the age of consent in British India from 10 to 12. Rukhmabai herself felt the minimum should be higher, and argued for 15.

Becoming a doctor

Rukhmabai had long wanted to study medicine. Dr Edith Pechey, a senior woman doctor at the Cama Hospital in Bombay, encouraged her, and a group of supporters raised funds so that she could travel to England. She enrolled at the London School of Medicine for Women around 1889–90 and gained clinical experience in several hospitals.

At the time, women could not sit English medical examinations, so she completed her qualifying exams in Edinburgh and Glasgow in 1894 and later earned a Doctor of Medicine degree in Brussels. Accounts differ on some details of her degrees and dates, but she was on the British Medical Register by 1894.

She returned to India in 1895 and became chief medical officer at the women’s hospital in Surat. She worked on public health efforts during the plague and was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind medal. She later moved to the Zenana hospital in Rajkot and retired around 1929–30. After retiring she kept writing, and her 1929 pamphlet argued for the abolition of purdah. She died on 25 September 1955, aged 90.

Was Rukhmabai the first woman doctor in India?

Not quite, and the answer depends on how you count. Dr Kadambini Ganguly began to practise in 1886 and is usually named as the first Indian woman to practise Western medicine in India. Anandibai Joshi also earned a medical degree in 1886 but did not go on to practise. That makes Rukhmabai one of the very first, and she is often counted as the second Indian woman to both qualify and practise as a doctor.

Why her story matters for women in STEM today

Rukhmabai Initiatives was launched in 2020 in her honour. At a time when a girl’s education usually ended with primary school, Rukhmabai studied, qualified and practised medicine. That determination is why we work to recognise Indian women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and to help them stay in their fields.

Today our work includes stories of contemporary women scientists, the Rukhmabai Grants for women science writers, and the 100 Women in STEM initiative. Know a woman whose work deserves to be seen? Nominate her here.

Frequently asked questions

When was Dr Rukhmabai born?
She was born on 22 November 1864 in Bombay (now Mumbai). Google marked her 153rd birthday with a Doodle on 22 November 2017.

Why is Rukhmabai famous?
For two reasons. Her refusal to live with a husband she had been married to as a child led to a landmark legal case that fed a national debate on child marriage. She also became one of the first Indian women to practise Western medicine.

What was the Rukhmabai case?
It was a legal battle between 1884 and 1888 in which her husband, Dadaji Bhikaji, asked the court to force her to live with him. After a ruling in her favour, an appeal, a prison threat and years of public debate, it ended in a settlement in 1888.

Is her surname Raut?
She is widely known as Rukhmabai Raut, the name used on the 2017 Google Doodle. Historians note, however, that there is no evidence she used Raut herself. She signed her name simply as Rukhmabai, including in her medical writing and on the British medical register.

Sources and further reading

We have written this overview in our own words from the published sources above. Accounts differ slightly on some dates and details. Updated 13 November 2026.

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