Phulmani Das: The child marriage victim who led to a change in India's age of consent law

Key Points:

• The tragedy of Phulmani Das occurred in 1889, when she was only 10 years old at the time of her death.
• Her death exposed the horrific reality of child marriage in colonial India and the incident caused widespread outrage in society.
• As a result, the British government passed the Age of Consent Act in 1891, which raised the age of consent in India to 12 years.

What will you read next in this topic?

• Phulmoni Das case: Landmark change in Indian marriage laws
• The Rukhmabai case and parallel contexts
• Opposition and cultural resistance
• Native Marriage Act, 1872:
• Age of Consent Act, 1891:
• Sharda Act, 1930:
• Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act, 1978:

Phulmoni Das case: Landmark change in Indian marriage laws

• In 1889, Phulmoni Das, a hearing-impaired girl in Bengal a little over 10 years old, was married to Hari Churna Maiti, a 35-year-old man with a criminal record.
• Thirteen hours later, Das died, succumbing to the injuries she had sustained during a sexual assault on her wedding night.
• Her death and the subsequent court case in Kolkata sparked a fierce debate on the plight of child brides in India and the brutal realities behind marriage laws, and served as the catalyst for a landmark law on the age of consent.

Description of the incident

• In her article ‘Intimate Violence in Colonial Bengal: A Death, a Trial, and a Law, 1889-1891’, historian Tanika Sarkar describes how Das’s mother found her in bed.
• Sarkar says, "After the rape, Phulmoni was heard moaning and her mother found her lying in Hari's bed, covered in blood: the man was standing near her, also covered in blood.
• 13 hours later she died in excruciating pain."
• The case shocked society, with reports circulated in the Viceroy's Legislative Council, the press and public meetings, prompting efforts to raise the age of consent from 10 years.

Autopsy and trial

• When Bengali doctor Aundo Prosad Bose examined Das before her death, he found blood and severe injuries on her thighs.
• The autopsy confirmed that Das had been raped, according to Sarkar.
• Maiti was arrested and when the trial began in the Calcutta Sessions Court on July 6, 1890, he denied raping Das.
• Although Maiti had admitted to the rape when speaking to Bose, she stated in court that Das had willingly asked her to sleep with him and that they had intimate relations whenever he came over.
• However, her female relatives strongly denied this, saying they always ensured that the couple slept separately.

Social and legal response

• The case led to increased awareness of child marriage in society.
• In a memorandum sent to the Viceroy of India Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, Fifth Marquess of Lansdowne on July 6, 1890, Andrew Scoble, a law member of the Viceroy's Legislative Council, cited Das's case as a compelling reason to raise the age of consent from 10 to 12 years.
• Scoble led the passage of the Age of Consent Act of 1891, arguing that this legislative change would curb the pre-pubescent termination of marriages.

The Rukhmabai case and parallel contexts

• Professor Rupal Oza, in her 2023 book 'Semiotics of Rape: Sexual Subjectivity and Violation in Rural India', places the Phulmoni Das case in context in the light of the 1885 Rukhmabai case.
• Rukhmabai, a young bride in Bombay, had refused to live with her husband after attaining puberty.
• When the husband sued for restitution of conjugal rights, she argued that the marriage had been coerced and refused to comply.
• The case divided public opinion, with reformist elites siding with Rukhmabai while nationalists opposed colonial interference in 'native' customs.

Opposition and cultural resistance

• Many doctors and conservative Hindu and Muslim groups opposed the law.
• They called it an interference in religious customs and saw child marriage as a life-cycle rite.
• However, the third Nawab of Dhaka, Nawab Ahsanullah, convinced the Legislative Assembly that Islam forbade cohabitation before puberty, and that the amendment would have the support of Muslims.

Native Marriage Act, 1872:

• The Native Marriage Act, 1872, known as the Indian Christian Marriage Act, came into force during the tenure of Viceroy Lord Northbrook.
• This Act specifically recognized Christian marriages as legal.

Key Points:

• Valid marriage: If one of the parties getting married was Christian, the marriage was considered valid.
• Son-in-law: A minister of the Church of India, a Scottish clergyman or a marriage registrar could perform the marriage.
• No religious ceremony required: A woman of any religion could get married without a religious ceremony.
• Prohibition of child marriage: Under this Act, marriage of girls below the age of 14 was prohibited.
• This Act was an important step to prevent child marriage and protect the rights of women.

Age of Consent Act, 1891:

• The Age of Consent Bill was introduced on January 9, 1891, to amend Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1882, with the efforts of social reformer V.M. Malabari.
• Passed on March 29, 1891, the Age of Consent Bill established that sex with a girl under the age of 12 – even if she was the wife of the perpetrator – would be considered rape, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
• It was a landmark law in nineteenth-century British India.
• The purpose of this Act was to prevent child marriage.

Key Points:

• Prohibition of age below 12 years: Under this Act, marriage of girls below the age of 12 years was legally made illegal.
• Contribution of social reformer: V.M. Malabari led a strong movement for this Act and raised awareness against child marriage in the society.
• This Act was important for the prevention of child marriage and provided protection to the rights of women.

Sharda Act, 1930:

• As a result of the inspiration of Har Vilas Sharda and his hard work as a social reformer, the Sharda Act was passed in 1930. This Act proved to be an important step to stop the practice of child marriage in Indian society.
• This Act not only made an impressive effort towards social reform, but also played an important role in the protection of children and women.

Key Points:

• Minimum age limit for marriage: Under the Sharda Act, marriage of boys below 18 years of age and girls below 14 years of age was declared illegal.
• Its purpose was to prevent the marriage of children and adolescents, which could be harmful to their physical and mental development.
• Prevention of child marriage: The biggest objective of this Act was to end child marriage, which was a common practice in Indian society at that time.
• This Act was to keep children and adolescents safe in the society, so that their education, mental health and personal development could be ensured.
• Legal provisions: The Sharda Act declared child marriage illegal and a punishable offense, thereby treating this practice as a crime.
• This law was a revolutionary step in the society of that time, which was for the protection of the rights of women and children.

Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act, 1978:

• In the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1978, the marriage age of girls was raised to 18 years and the marriage age of boys was raised to 21 years.
• This Act was an amendment to the Child Marriage Restraint Act (Sharda Act) of 1929.
• The desired success was not achieved in preventing child marriage through this Act.
• To prevent child marriage, the Child Marriage Restraint Act was enacted in the year 2006.
• In this Act, the punishment for the offenders was increased.
• In the year 2021, the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha. 
• The purpose of this bill was to increase the legal marriage age of women from 18 years to 21 years.
• The purpose of this amendment was also to implement gender equality.