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:

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: b

Explanation:

Rukmabai was married off at the age of 11 to Dadaji Bhikaji who was aged 19. She, however, continued to stay at the house of her widowed mother, who later got married to a doctor Sakharam Arjun Raut. She was supported by her stepfather when she refused to stay with Bhikaji and his family at his house. She completed her matriculation staying with her mother. This led to the Dadaji Bhikaji vs Rukhmabai case, 1885.                                                                                                                                                

Dadaji Bhikaji filed a case against his wife Rukmabai in the Bombay High Court in 1884 for restitution of conjugal rights. In this case Justice Pinhey declined to pass a decree of restitution of conjugal rights in favour of the husband. Rukhmabai refused to be bound to the marriage contracted when she was eleven years old.                                                                                                                                   

Rukmabai went on to become India’s first qualified physician and was the major cause behind the enactment of Age of Consent Act in 1891.

Hence, option b is correct.

Read: Previous Year UPSC History Questions (PYQs) With Explanation 2020