In the era when Indian women hardly had any rights to even speak, a fearless and determined Dr. Rukhmabai, India’s first practicing lady doctor did the impossible. Although she was subjected to child marriage at the age of 11, child bride Dr. Rukhmabai Bhikaji contested her husband’s claim to conjugal rights in an iconic court case that led to the passage of the Age of Consent Act in 1891. Dr. Rukhmabai had taken a bold step to fight society and go against the flow to become a doctor and practice medicine.
Although, Dr. Anandibai Joshi was the first Indian woman to qualify as a doctor, she never practiced medicine. Thus, the honor is enjoyed by the little-known Dr. Rukhmabai who traveled to London to study medicine and became a qualified doctor in 1894." Early life: In 1854, Dr. Rukhmabai was born in Bombay to a woman who had herself suffered because of the custom of child marriage.…
