Cardiff University

BA (hons) History

Dissertation:
British Media Reflections on the Age of Consent Bill
(1891) and the Debates Surrounding the Case of
Rukhmabai

Student Number: C1207458

Module Code: HS1801

Supervisor: Dr Padma Anagol

Academic Year: 2014/15

Word Count: 9,991

1
Contents

Introduction: (pp. 3-6.)

Chapter 1: British Public Opinion on Child Marriage (pp. 7-11.)

Chapter 2: The British Media, and Particularly The Times, Response to the Case of
Rukhmabai, and their Accountability for Championing Public Support Towards the
Introduction of New Legislation (pp. 12-17.)

Chapter 3: British Media Focus Upon the Indian Woman, and or, the Nature of Childhood
(pp. 18-24.)

Chapter 4: Critique Against Antoinette Burtons Argument that the British Media Used the
Body of an Indian Woman as Evidence of the Necessity for Imperial Rule (pp. 25-30.)

Conclusion: (pp. 31-33.)

Bibliography: (pp. 34-37.)

2
Introduction

3
I have chosen to focus my dissertation upon the debates surrounding the Age of Consent Bill
and the case of Rukhmabai. I first became interested in this topic after writing a short essay
on it last year and I felt that the dissertation presented an opportunity to engage with the
subject from a different perspective the British media reflections.

The Age of Consent Bill was passed on 19 March 1891, amending the Indian Penal Code and
Code of Criminal Procedure. The India Penal Code, since its adoption in 1860, had
recognised ten years as the age of consent for all girls. The new measure, signed by Lord
Lansdowne, raised the age of consent from ten to twelve years, making sexual intercourse
with unmarried and married girls below twelve years rape and punishable by ten years
imprisonment or transportation for life.1 The Bill has been described as very significant, by
Stanley Wolpert, as it was the first real act of social reform implemented by the British in
India, since the mutiny of 1857.2 Due largely to the case of Rukhmabai, the Hindu custom of
child marriage became an issue of public debate between 1884 and 1888. Although there is
evidence from British newspapers of discourse on the subject prior to 1884, which I will
feature later in my dissertation; the case of Rukhmabai proved to be the precursor to the
legislation. The case helped to spawn a transnational debate, both in Britain and India, over
the custom of child marriage. Rukhmabai herself was a twenty two year old Hindu woman of
the carpenter class, and she was taken to Bombay high court, in 1884, by her husband Dadaji
Bhikaji, because she refused to recognise his conjugal rights.3 She had been married at the
age of eleven, to Dadaji then aged nineteen; living separate for eleven years. Rukhmabai
argued that unconsummated marriage was no longer binding on her as she was an adult. She
lost her case, which had dragged on for four years; she had been threatened with
imprisonment, which she had avoided through compromise.4 Sudhir Chandra has described
the case as an inspired gesture of defiance, which was unique, as it produced a social
drama.5 This case, along with the issue of child marriage, were regularly featured in articles
1 Mrinalini Sinha, The Age of Consent Act: The Ideal of Masculinity and Colonial Identity in
Nineteenth Century Bengal, in Tony K. Stewart (ed.), Shaping Bengali Worlds, Public and Private
(Michigan, 1989), p. 99.

2 Stanley Wolpert, A New History of India (Oxford, 2000), p. 260.

3 Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India (New Delhi, 2004),
p. 237.

4 Bandyopadhyay, Plassey to Partition, pp. 237-38.

5 Sudhir Chandra, Enslaved Daughters: Colonialism, Law and Womens Rights (New Delhi, 1998), p.
1.

4
by the British press; The Times being the first newspaper to widely publicise Rukhmabais
story. Her case received attention by both Indian social reformers and British moral reformers
and feminists. Due largely to the help of Dr Edith Pechey, a fund was raised to bring
Rukhmabai to London, where she went on to qualify as a doctor in 1894. Even though Dadaji
had accepted financial compensation, not to continue with his claim, her status in Hindu law
as neither married nor unmarried was never fully clear. Her case was seen as the main factor
for the transnational discourse on child marriage, which I believe can be attributed to the
constant press coverage her case received in both countries. It was because of this discourse,
that moral pressure was exerted upon the British government to pass the legislation in 1891.

The debate, itself, has been covered from numerous angles, by a number of different scholars,
including feminist, gender and colonial historians. Padma Anagol-McGinn, a feminist
historian, has argued that women were in fact active participants within the debate, and
Sudhir Chandra, in her book, Enslaved Daughters, echoes this view. Narain Prem has related
the Bill of 1891, to Indias struggle for freedom, describing the agitation towards the
legislation as a landmark in this struggle.6 He has also argued that it was The Times
newspaper who advocated strongly for a change in the law, so that the infancy of a girl may
not be misused by her guardians and she may not suffer. Geraldine Forbes is of the belief that
as the discourse on child marriage continued, reformers became more interested in securing
legislation to prevent immediate evils, rather than actually improving the position of Indian
women in society. Sinha has attempted to show how the Bill was mediated through a set of
gender identities of masculinity and effeminacy, to suggest a connection between imperialism
and the Victorian ideal of manliness, with Dagmar Engels suggesting the Bill challenged
more male control over female sexuality; a metaphor that displayed British moral superiority
over India. Antoinette Burton uses examples from the Indian and British press, to show how
the case of Rukhmabai fits within the debate on sexuality in Victorian Britain. She argues that
the Victorian press made public the body of an Indian woman as the necessity for British
imperial rule. Forbes is in agreement with Burton, that the interest generated by the story of
Rukhmabai helped to establish extra-parliamentary pressure.

I believe that my dissertation is a contribution to media studies as well as history, in that I

shall be using a great variety of primary material from The Times, and other local British
newspapers. I have accessed this material through online newspaper archives, and many of

6 Narain Prem, The Age of Consent Bill (1891) and its Impact on Indias Freedom Struggle in
Quarterly Review of Historical Studies, 10:1 (1970-71), p. 7.

5
the sources I have uncovered are yet to be used in any historical publications to date.
Although I have decided to look at the topic of the child marriage debates from a similar
angle to Burton - the reflections of the British media - I believe I have used a far wider range
of British newspaper articles, particularly from the regional press, in reaching my own unique
conclusions. One area of my dissertation which I believe to be particularly distinctive in
character is my attempt to discover whether the British media were more concerned with the
protection and nature of childhood, or, whether it was an issue of gender, concerning the
protection and betterment of women.

My dissertation will begin by looking at how and why the British public viewed child
marriage as a problem, with the aim of showing how public perceptions can be accessed
through the medium of British newspaper reports. Next, I shall argue that British public
opinion was directly influenced by media reports, which in turn pressured the government
into legislative action, arguing that The Times can be seen as beginning the discourse through
their reports of Rukhmabai and how the local press furthered this public concern and pressure
upon government. My third chapter, which I believe to be most individual in character, aims
to show how prior to The Times first reports on Rukhmabai, the concern of the British press
seems to be over the protection of children, both from sexual and domestic abuse. I believe,
however, that once The Times begins its heavy publicity of the Rukhmabai story in the mid-
1880s, the concern of the British press appears to shift to seeing the issue as one of gender;
with the goal of protecting Indian females. Finally, I will refute Burtons thesis that the
British press used the body of an Indian woman as the evidence for the necessity of British
imperial rule, arguing that the legislation itself may have been used by the British government
to provide a moral basis for the necessity of rule, but that this was not necessarily the
objective of the British media. They were arguing on a custom they saw as morally wrong,
which they felt needed to be stopped in order to protect the children and women of India.

6
 Chapter 1

British Public Opinion on Child Marriage

7
In this chapter I shall seek to uncover how the British public viewed the custom of Indian
child marriage. It is clear that the public saw it as a problem, so I will be asking why this was
the case. I believe that the British people, at this time, saw it as their duty to civilise and
progress India and I will link this to the notion that the British may have felt themselves as
morally superior to the Indian people. I will show examples of the British public engaging in
the discourse, and how they displayed their support for the abolition of the practice. My
overall aim is to demonstrate, that public perception on the subject, can be found using
sources from the British print press during this period.

22 August 1887, The Times summarised public opinion on the custom of child marriage as
utterly repugnant to English feeling.7 These are very strong words, which emphasises the
extent to which the British saw the custom as a problem. The British public saw the Hindu
custom as evil, for a number of different reasons. Concern, as I shall demonstrate in chapter
three, was at first placed upon the nature of childhood, and later upon the protection of young
females, to protect the infant bride from sexual and domestic abuse. The Birmingham Daily
Post, 15 August 1890, expressed clearly, why this custom was seen as unacceptable,
Betrothal, marriage, and motherhood or widowhood (this latter a term of harsh and
meaningless indignity) are, we may say, planned for accomplishment within the first thirteen
years of life.8 The article goes on to describe it as contrary to all natural requirements, and
thus intercourse and childbirth at a young age were seen as having negative consequences to
both the body of the mother and the offspring, of this sterile union, the frequently fatal
childbirth, and miserable puny offspring are certain signs.9 As well as the notion of child
marriage being conducive to the abuse of children, and the mental and physical toll that early
marriage and childbirth had upon the young wife, the British public recognised, that the
likelihood of child-widowhood was greatly increased as a result of the number of infant
marriages. The Times, 14 January 1888, published figures on the number of child widows in
India: there were supposedly 78,976 child-widows under the age of nine, 207,388 from the

7 The Times Digital Archive, Our correspondent F. M. M. once more calls. The Times, 22 August
1887, p. 9.

8 Nineteenth Century British Newspapers Online, Child Marriage in India. Birmingham Daily Post,
15 August 1890.

9NCBNO, Child Marriage in India. Birmingham Daily Post, 15 Aug 1890.

8
ages of ten to fourteen, and 382,736 from the ages of fifteen to nineteen.10 Although these
figures are disturbingly high and very precise in number, they cannot be presumed as totally
accurate. The British public seemed increasingly concerned about child-widowhood, a direct
result of child marriage and the Denbighshire Free Press, 9 January 1886, when speaking on
child marriage, describes how the evils of the system increased a thousandfold by the fact
that Hindu law permits a woman to be married only once.11 The Times, 18 February 1889,
presents a similar standpoint, highlighting the injustice of Hindu social law, enabling the
husband, as in the present case, to marry a second wife, while the victim of the so-called first
marriage is debarred from all possibility of domestic happiness.12 It was recognised by the
people of Britain, that being a child-widow meant having little to no social standing, and it is
evident, that the public saw Hindu law as being unjust towards the widow.

In 1875, the Offences Against the Persons Act raised the age of sexual consent in Britain,
from twelve to thirteen years of age, and ten years later the Criminal Law Amendment Act
raised it again, to sixteen.13 This can be seen as part of a wider social purity movement which
was present in the latter half of nineteenth century Britain. I believe that this concept of social
purification helped to stimulate support against Indian child marriage, and it seems that the
British public saw the discourse on this debate as being part of a wider civilising mission,
which would help to bring India in line with Britains higher moral standards. For example,
The Times, 22 August 1887, saw it as the duty of English philanthropists to try to raise the
position of women in India through education.14 The Aberdare Times, 1 March 1890,
published a story about Lord Harris, the newly appointed Governor of the Bombay
Presidency, who explains that he would do his best in the position he was about to occupy to
promote the progress of the people in education and enlightenment, and in loyalty and
attachment to the Sovereign.15 This shows the clear mind-set of the British public; that

10 The Times Digital Archive, F. M. M. The Cases of Rukhmabai and Ramabai. The Times, 14
January 1888, p. 4.

11 Welsh Newspapers Online, The Child Wife. Denbighshire Free Press, 9 January 1886.

12 The Times Digital Archive, India. The Times, 18 February 1889, p. 5.

13 Jennifer Davis, The Age of Consent: A Warning from History: The Work of Josephine Butler, in The
Christian Institute (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 2009), p. 21.http://www.christian.org.uk/wp-
content/downloads/aoc_warning.pdf (Accessed: 15/04/2015)

14 The Times Digital Archive, F.M.M. Rukhmabai. The Times, 22 August 1887, p. 3.

15 Welsh Newspapers Online, Lord Harris and the Indians. Aberdare Times, 1 March 1890.

9
modernisation in India could only come as a result of British interference. The public
certainly carried prejudices towards the Indians; colonial assumptions, which are clearly
evident in media reports, The Times, 22 August 1887, published a letter from J. Scott to the
Editor, who states, The Indian people cannot be made moral by Act of parliament. This
particular person is not advocating for direct change, through British legislation, as he feels,
Western interference in their social policy without their agreement and sanction would only
retard the real progress, but he certainly presents this colonial notion, which surrounded the
age of consent and child marriage, that the people of India were not moral.16 So, although
respectful of Indian social customs, to a degree, the person feels that the Indian people should
be made moral, by British standards. The British public, to an extent, appear to see
themselves as holding the high ground over the issue of child marriage. Six years after the
Age of Consent Bill was passed, The North Wales Times, 8 May 1897, states, It is also a
good sign that Hindoo men of education are beginning to be ashamed of child marriage, and
the cruelties practiced on child widows.17 The view being taken, that had it not been for an
English style education in India, as a result of the famous Macaulay minute in 1835, Indian
men would still accept the custom, and would essentially still not meet the moral criteria of a
British man.

Despite the public feeling that British traditions were morally superior to those of India, we
must recognise that the British public did genuinely identify with the story of Rukhmabai,
and directly aided her, and her campaign to better the lives of her Indian sisters. When
Rukhmabai, in April 1890, spoke to a large gathering of British women in the Liberal Club,
the Leicester Chronicle and The Leicester Mercury, described the female audience as
sympathetic to her cause.18 The Times, 3 October 1887, reported how The Lady Dufferin
Fund obtained subscriptions between the beginning of May and the end of August to the
amount of 1,21,325 rupees.19 This being a fund to aid the women of India, and was
associated therefore to the growing discourse against child marriage and to the protection of
Indian women. The money raised by this campaign, clearly shows it was well supported by

16 The Times Digital Archive, J. Scott, Rukhmabai. The Times, 22 August 1887, p. 12.

17 Welsh Newspapers Online, Marriage in India. North Wales Times, 8 May 1897.

18 Nineteenth Century British Newspapers Online, The Hindoos in India. Leicester Chronicle and
The Leicester Mercury, 5 April 1890, p. 3.

19 The Times Digital Archive, India. The Times, 3 October 1887, p. 5.

10
the British public, and once again emphasises this need to modernise India, to the standards
which were considered acceptable to Britain.

Overall, it seems that the perceptions of the British public surrounding the debates on the age
of consent and child marriage in India can be found when using examples from nineteenth
century British newspapers. Child marriage in India was seen by the British public as being
one of the biggest evils of Hindu social custom, as it resulted in an increased number of child
widows, whose lives would lead, more often than not, to great hardships and suffering. As
well as this, the child wife often suffered as a result of sexual and domestic abuse, and the
effects of giving birth at a young age had medical consequences for the mother and the child
concerned. It does seem that the British public felt obliged to modernise India. They often
believed that their customs were morally superior to that of India, and that it was, therefore,
necessary to abolish child marriage, and bring India into line with what would be considered
acceptable in British society. There is no doubt that the British public, and a large section of
the growing feminist movement in Britain, did positively engage in helping to protect, and
raise the social standing of women in India, yet it is seems to be shadowed by colonial
assumptions and an undertone of moral superiority on their behalf.

11
 Chapter 2

The British Media, and Particularly The Times, Response to the Case of Rukhmabai,
and their Accountability for Championing Public Support Towards the Introduction of
New Legislation

12
The Age of Consent Act 1891, was, as Padma Anagol-McGinn has suggested, the last
measure of social reform in India which was affected by influencing public opinion.20 In this
chapter I shall explain how the British media and The Times in particular, reported and
responded to the case of Rukhmabai. I shall argue that the public opinion which influenced
the passing of the legislation in 1891 was galvanised by the reports being published in the
British press. I will argue that The Times can be held responsible for the increasing pressure
that the Government faced to pass legislation to abolish Indian child marriage, and how more
localised British newspapers closely followed the stories which were being reported by The
Times, and thus arrived at similar conclusions; furthering public concern for the cause.

It is important to recognise that discourse regarding Indian child marriage, by the British
press, was happening prior to March 1886 when James Cameron MacGregor, the Calcutta
correspondent to The Times, first brought the case of Rukhmabai to the attention of the
British public. For example, as early as 1878, local newspapers, such as the Aberystwyth
Observer, can be seen as advocating for change, It is a small beginning, but as a beginning it
is most satisfactory, and we trust that this movement against child marriage will spread
widely.21 The Times gave the story of Rukhmabai a great deal of publicity, particularly in
1887. They regularly published a series of letters, written to The Editor of The Times, by
those who were well placed to speak upon the issue. The story often featured in The Times
column on India, a regular feature which was part of a wider section of the newspaper
which was dedicated to providing the news on the various parts of the British Empire. For
example, The Times, 9 April 1887, published a letter from Harvey Carlisle who strongly
advocated in favour of Rukhmabai, and he called upon the government to make child
marriage illegal, respect for native prejudice and feeling is necessary no doubt, but respect

20 Padma Anagol-McGinn, The Age of Consent Act (1891) Reconsidered: Womens Perspectives
and Participation in the Child Marriage Controversy in India, in South Asia Research 12:2
(November, 1992), p. 100.

21 Welsh Newspapers Online, Early Marriages in India. Aberystwyth Observer, 2 November 1878.

13
which practically leads to brutal cruelty is very unrespectable and ought to be made to give
way to the laws of God and conscience and humanity.22 He asks the editor to publish an
accompanying letter, which a member of his family received from Rukhmabai herself, and
the newspaper obliges, showing their willingness to give this story maximum exposure. In the
letter, Rukhmabai eloquently describes her own suffering, and the suffering of countless other
Indian brides. She directly appeals to Queen Victoria, in her Jubilee year, on behalf of
millions of Indian daughters, to grant them a few simple words of change into the books
on Hindu law that marriages performed before the respective ages of 20 in boys and 15 in
girls shall be considered illegal in the eyes of the law.23 At almost every instance, The Times
appears to place its emphasis on the support of Rukhmabai, but that is not to say the
newspaper never included the other side of the discourse. For example, a letter was
published, 15 April 1887, in response to the earlier letter of Harvey Carlisle, by the Ex-
Judicial Commissioner of the Punjab, who I assume was Indian. He specifically states, Of
what advantage is it to raise a cry of national wrong where none exists?24 This emphasises
how in India, public opinion was far more divided than in Britain, where I feel it is fair to
conclude, that the majority, were in opposition to the custom of child marriage. Several days
later, 21 April 1887, The Times published a letter from Friedrich Max Mller, a German
professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University, who was renowned for his admiration of Indias
golden Vedic age. Mller firmly defends the position of Rukhmabai, describing the practice
of child marriage as an unnatural atrocity.25 He personally appeals to Parliament on behalf
of Rukhmabai and her Indian sisters, saying when so many questions are asked in
Parliament, will no one ask a question about Rukhmabai?26 Subsequently, The Times
published a letter from Sir Monier-Williams, 11 May 1887; he too, being one of the leading
experts on India and its cultures and traditions, shows his support for the abolition of the
custom, and he directly compares the custom of sati, which the British made illegal with the
Bengal Sati Regulation of 1829, to that of child marriage. He asks, Why, then, permit any

22 The Times Digital Archive, Harvey Carlisle, A Jubilee for the Women of India. The Times, 9
April 1887, p.8.

23 TDA, Carlisle, A Jubilee for the Women of India. The Times, 9 April 1887, p.8.

24 The Times Digital Archive, Ex-Judicial Commissioner of the Punjab, Rukhmabais Case. The
Times, 15 April 1887, p. 4.

25 The Times Digital Archive, F. M. M. Rukhmabai. The Times, 21 April 1887, p. 9.

26 TDA, F. M. M. Rukhmabai. The Times, 21 April 1887, p. 9.

14
woman in the present day to be forced to do what many women would regard as little better
than entering the fire, had they the sense and education enough to know the real meaning of
marriage?27 Although Monier-Williams recognises that the government does not wish to
upset ancient Hindu customs, he does give the example of the girls of military caste in the
ancient times, who were often allowed, by their fathers, to choose their own husbands.28

The period to which the majority of my primary sources stem, 1860 to 1890, has been
described by the late Joseph O. Baylen as the Golden Age of the British press, with the press
emerging into its modern form. He places reason for this upon the abolition of taxation on
reading during the 1850s and early 1860s, which, gave the daily and weekly press a vastly
enlarged readership, and thus gave the press a great potential for the exercise of political
influence.29 The Times itself, under the editorship of Thomas Barnes, 1817-1841, was
developed as a radical force in the context of liberalising reforms. It positioned itself as the
champion of the middle to upper middle class opinion, and as thundering for reform.30 In
the Victorian era, there were no national newspapers in England, with the exception of The
Times.31 In the period I am focused upon, Thomas Chenery, a former foreign correspondent,
was appointed in 1878 as editor of The Times, and was succeeded by George Buckle in 1884,
under whose editorship the paper became increasingly conservative and Empire orientated.32
The Times, then, had a history of pressuring government into legislative change both at home,
and in The Empire. For example, Aled Jones has described how James Routledge, who
reported the Bengal famine for The Times, was appalled by the repressive legislation, and in
1878 urged Indian journalists to lobby the British people to have them reversed.33 I believe

27 The Times Digital Archive, Sir Monier-Williams, The Case of Rukhmabai. The Times, 11 May
1887, p. 16.

28 TDA, Monier-Williams, The Case of Rukhmabai. The Times, 11 May 1887, p. 16.

29 Joseph O. Baylen, The British Press: 1861-1918, in Dennis Griffiths (ed.), The Encyclopaedia of
the British Press: 1422-1992 (Basingstoke, 1992), p. 33.

30 Laurel Brake & Marysa Demoor (eds.), Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century Journalism in Great
Britain and Ireland (London, 2009), p. 627.

31 Alan J. Lee, The Origins of the Popular Press in England 1855-1914 (London, 1976), p. 54.

32 Brake & Demoor, Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century Journalism, p. 627.

33 Aled Jones, Powers of the Press: Newspapers, Power and the public in Nineteenth-Century
England (Aldershot, 1996), p. 26.

15
that the newspaper was no different in their reaction to the case of Rukhmabai, and they used
this story as a focal point to pressure the government into legislative action.

The Times, in my considered opinion, were staunch supporters of Rukhmabai from the
beginning. Antoinette Burton believes the editors (of The Times and other British
newspapers) were extremely sympathetic to her cause.34 Their position on child marriage
does not falter, and the newspaper remains consistently opposed to child marriage throughout
its pages. The Times, 2 May 1887, when speaking about the committee established in
Bombay to defend Rukhmabai, says it continues to collect subscriptions, which, however,
do not appear to be flowing in very fast.35 This clearly shows the newspaper placing
somewhat of an advert for the committee, urging the British public to dip into their pockets to
support the cause. In another article in the same newspaper, 21 June 1887, it speaks about the
media spotlight around the case of Rukhmabai one which I hold The Times accountable for.
It says, The attention lately attracted by Rukhmabais case has induced the Indian
Government to consult the local administrations regarding the extent of state interference
which it is advisable to enforce with the performance of conjugal duties.36 There was
definitely a build-up of pressure from the press which was pushing the government to enact
change. Even after the legislation was passed in 1891, The Times still showed their support
for Rukhmabai, and her cause of bettering the lives of Indian girls. 15 May 1894, The Times,
explains how Rukhmabai was anxious to help her fellow country-women appealing for
support to enable one of the most useful schools in Bombay to continue and extend its
work. They are directly appealing to their readers to donate to the cause, saying,
Subscriptions may be sent to Rukhmabai, at the address given above.37

The local press in Britain, it seems, were directly influenced by The Times reports on
Rukhmabai. Regional newspapers would have had smaller readerships, but a more diverse
one, with many, particularly in the larger cities, being read by a more working class majority.
The Bury and Norwich Post and Suffolk Standard, shows the influence The Times held. It
reports on the letter by Robert Carlisle, a previous piece in The Times, and the subsequent

34 Antoinette Burton, Burdens of History: British Feminists, Indian Women, and Imperial Culture,
1865-1915 (Chapel Hill, 1994), p. 108.

35 The Times Digital Archive, India. The Times, 2 May 1887, p. 5.

36 The Times Digital Archive, India. The Times, 21 June 1887, p. 13.

37 The Times Digital Archive, Indian Girls. The Times, 15 May 1894, p. 5.

16
letter from Rukhmabai, explaining her appeal to Queen Victoria.38 The correspondent for The
Standard, 7 July 1888, expresses his support for Rukhmabai, stating, Hopes are expressed
that legislative means may be taken to prevent a repetition of the scandal involved in bringing
of such suits.39 This shows that although The Times clearly influenced perceptions on the
Rukhmabai story, other newspapers were showing their own voice; asking for change. Ten
days later, The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, voiced a similar opinion to The Standard,
saying, It is to be hoped that the scandal caused by this case will support Rukhmabais
appeal for reform of the law.40 The press were seemingly unanimous in their support for
Rukhmabai. The Star, 2 December 1890, published a story which was first reported by The
Times of India, which no doubt would have put pressure on the government to enact change
published only three months before the Bill was passed. The Times of India published the
text of a petition from the women of India to the Queen, praying that the criminal law may be
so altered as to protect girls at least under fourteen from husbands as well as strangers, and
states that the petition is signed by 2,000 women, chiefly Hindoos.41 A newspaper such as
The Star would likely have had a different readership to The Times, and this shows how
support for the movement would have spread across different social groups nationwide. The
regional press then, influenced by The Times, was responsible for furthering the support for
Rukhmabai and the opposition to child marriage in India. Weeks before Age of Consent Bill
was introduced, The Morning Post, 24 February 1891, explains how a meeting of 4,000
Hindus of various castes was held in support of a Bill, The legislative proceedings were of a
most enthusiastic character and a resolution was adopted urging legislative interference for
the protection of child wives.42 These final two newspaper reports, support Anagol-
McGinns thesis that Indian women were in fact active in the child marriage debates in

38 Nineteenth Century British Newspapers Online, The Hindoo Marriage Laws. The Bury and
Norwich Post and Suffolk Standard, 12 April 1887, p. 8.

39 Nineteenth Century British Newspapers Online, Child Marriages in India. The Standard, 7 July
1888, p. 5.

40 Nineteenth Century British Newspapers Online, Horrible Cruelty to a Child. The Bristol
Mercury and Daily Post, 17 July 1888.

41 Nineteenth Century British Newspapers Online, Child Marriages in India. The Star, 2 December
1890, p. 1.

42 Nineteenth Century British Newspapers Online, Child Marriage in India. The Morning Post, 24
February 1891, p. 5.

17
pushing for reform, and shows the willingness of regional newspapers in publishing stories
which favoured legislative reform, which no doubt pressurised the government.

Overall, it is clear that The Times was the first British newspaper to bring the story of
Rukhmabai to the attention of the public; being the major voice in support of her cause. I
believe that the continual reporting of the story, in the years leading up to the passing of the
Age of Consent Bill, by The Times, significantly pressurised the government into enacting
reform. It was a newspaper renowned for its ability to press for political change, and this is
evident in this particular case study. It is also evident that the regional press in Britain, closely
followed the story of Rukhmabai, as reported in The Times, and this, I feel allowed it to reach
an even wider audience. The regional press appear united in their discourse; against the
custom of child marriage, and this would serve to add further pressure on the government to
consider new social legislation in India.

Chapter 3

British Media Focus Upon the Indian Woman, and or, the Nature of Childhood

18
Dagmar Engels believes that the officially announced object of the Bill of 1891 was to protect
immature girls from prostitution and the early consummation of marriage.43 The dangers
associated with sexual intercourse at a premature age were considered to be its primary
concern. In this chapter, I will explore whether the focus of the British media was upon the
Indian woman, or, rather, concern with the nature of childhood itself. I shall be asking
whether it was the concern of the British media to seek the protection of the Indian child, or
the Indian female, or perhaps a mixture of both.

Prior to the case of Rukhmabai, which began in 1884, and was widely publicised by The
Times, the issue of Indian child marriage was being discussed by the British media, and I
believe that the concern over the issue, at this time, was mostly over the protection of Indian

43 Dagmar Engels, The Age of Consent Act of 1891: Colonial Ideology in Bengal, in South Asia
Research, 3:2 (November, 1983), p. 107.

19
children. The Aberystwyth Observer, 22 March 1879, published a short passage on early
marriage in India. It portrays the evils of child marriage through the medium of a personal
experience by a young Brahmin man. The article is unusual, in that it illustrates child
marriage from the perspective of an Indian male; one who was married at the age of eleven to
a young girl of no more than seven years old. The account expresses the sad reality of child
marriage, how both the husband and the wife are too young to comprehend the true
understandings of the nature of marriage. The young Brahmin explains how even when I
became older I knew not my duties towards her.44 He holds his wife in high regard,
describing her as a very handsome intelligent girl, but goes on to describe in harrowing
detail, the affect that bearing a child at such a young age, had on his wife, her health has
been gradually ruined [] now her memory has entirely failed her.45 He describes her as
once, a paragon of beauty, but how now, at not even thirty years of age, she is an old
emaciated woman, with sunken eyes, and not strong enough to walk thirty paces.46 An
emotive account such as this, would, no doubt, have evoked an empathetic response from its
Welsh readership. The concern here is not over gender, but more the pain and suffering that
the young child has endured, as well as the effect that this has had upon the young male. Six
months later, the same newspaper furthered its concerns over the protection of the innocence
of childhood. The marriages are ordinarily made when the contracting parties are mere
children: the result is premature childbearing, and of course, premature exhaustion and old
age on the part of the woman, weakly offspring, and injury to the father as well as the
mother.47 Concern then, is shown for both the male and female child, who, are seen as being
too young to marry; with suffering following as a result.

It is evident that the British were concerned for the welfare of children in India. One of their
concerns being, the sexual abuse towards the young child bride. Ronald Hyam has suggested
that paedophilia, crops up rather often in the British experience, both at home and overseas.48
It is a problem which exists in every society in every nation, and modern Britain is no
exception, with Emily Drivers research in 1989 suggesting sexual abuse affected as many as

44 Welsh Newspapers Online, Early Marriage in India. Aberystwyth Observer, 22 March 1879.

45 WNO, Early Marriage in India. Aberystwyth Observer, 22 March 1879.

46 WNO, Early Marriage in India. Aberystwyth Observer, 22 March 1879.

47 WNO, Early Marriage in India in Aberystwyth Observer, 2 November 1878.

48 Ronald Hyam, Empire and Sexuality: The British Experience (Manchester, 1990), p. 9.

20
one in eight girls and one in twelve boys.49 An assumption which could be made is that the
British, in the late 1800s, saw the tradition of child marriage in India as being conducive to
sexual abuse, which in turn, resulted in both physical and mental suffering to the child. An
example of the possibility for such abuse can be seen in the case of Phulmonee in 1890. She
was a girl of about ten or eleven, who was raped by her husband, Hari Mati, aged thirty five.50
Surprisingly I have been unable to find any examples of this case being reported in the British
press, yet it has been regarded as a final catalyst for the legislation which shortly followed in
1891. The first source which I presented from the Aberystwyth Observer highlights the
complexities of sexual abuse within a child marriage, as suffering is clearly occurring on
behalf of the child wife, yet the young male, who is only slightly older, is nave to the
situation. I am not placing blame upon the young husband, only emphasising the notion that
marriages were occurring between those too young to fully comprehend the suffering. We
must remember that many child marriages occurred between two children, but as well as this,
many young girls would be marrying a much older man, and thus it is these men who would
fully grasp the suffering inflicted as a result of their sexual actions. The suffering, however,
was not always of a sexual nature, The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, gives an example of
horrible cruelty to a child, in which an eleven year old girl is abused physically by her
husband and her mother in law.51 On one occasion, when the young girl was cooking, she was
accused of putting too much salt in the dish, and as a result, her husband, his brother and her
mother in law threw her down and the men bound and gagged her while the woman branded
her with an iron ladle which she heated in the fire.52 The Dundee Courier and Argus,
recounts the same events as The Bristol Mercury, but its headline differs, titled: Shocking
cruelty to a girl.53 Here, then, it seems that the journalist of this newspaper, is concerned
over abuse towards a girl. It is portrayed as an issue of gender; oppression of a female, as
opposed to The Bristol Mercury, who places its emphasis on the age of the young child, and
the abuse received.

49 Emily Driver, Introduction, in Emily Driver & Audrey Droisen (eds.), Child Sexual Abuse: A
Feminist Reader (New York, 1989), p. 2.

50 Tanika Sarkar, Rhetoric against Age of Consent: Resiting Colonial Reason and Death of a Child-
Wife, in Economic and Political Weekly (September 1993), p. 1873.

51 NCBNO, Horrible Cruelty to a Child, The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, 17 July 1888.

52 NCBNO, Horrible Cruelty to a Child, The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, 17 July 1888.

53 Nineteenth Century British Newspapers Online, Child Marriage in India. The Dundee Courier
and Argus, 17 July 1888.

21
I believe that The Times heavy publicity of the Rukhmabai case resulted in a slight shift in
the motives of the British press in their opposition towards the custom of child marriage. It
seems that the issue becomes less about protecting the innocence, and nature of childhood,
eradicating sexual abuse of children, but to that of an issue of gender. The emphasis is placed
upon the suffering of the Indian woman at the hands of the Indian men. The Times explains
how a committee was being formed in support of women in India by an amendment of some
of the marriage laws.54 Rukhmabai herself, writing in The Times, speaks about her wish to
lessen the miseries of such of my Hindoo sisters as may be unfortunately situated like
myself.55 Around this time, the arguments of Indian social reformers shared similar
characteristics to reports in the British press, and Geraldine Forbes has noted that these
arguments for a later age of marriage stressed the physical and social advantages for females
and the physical and social advantages for a society which would have fewer child widows
and fewer child mothers.56 One such reformer was Behramji Malabari, a Bombay Parsi, who,
believed that the stage was set to make an India-wide issue of premature marriage and the
related custom of enforced widowhood.57 On 15 August 1884 Malabari published his famous
Notes on Infant marriage in India, and Enforced Widowhood, and these combined the
two issues, because he believed that the younger the girl married, the greater her chances
were of becoming a widow.58 This was published in the wake of the Rukhmabai case;
Malabari, a strong supporter, was it seems, focused upon social reform, which would help to
improve the position of women in Indian society.

Clearly, in the late 1880s, Rukhmabai, and The Times in unison, were advocating for change
on behalf of the Indian women, in order to attain better social standing. In other, more
localised British press, we see that such newspapers were clearly influenced, to an extent, by
The Times coverage of the Rukhmabai case. They too, portray an issue of gender. For
example, Berrows Worcester Journal, 18 May 1889, places its opinions on child marriage

54 The Times Digital Archive, The Indian Marriage Laws. The Times, 3 September 1890, p. 4.

55 The Times Digital Archive, Rukhmabai in England. The Times, 29 April 1889, p. 12.

56 Geraldine H. Forbes, Women and Modernity: The Issues of Child Marriage in India, in Womens
Studies International Quarterly, 2 (1979), p. 409.

57 Charles H. Heimsath, The Origin and Enactment of the Indian Age of Consent Bill, 1891, in
Journal of Asian History, 4 (1962), p. 492.

58 Rajendra S. Vatsa, Movement Against Infant Marriages in India 1860-1914, in Journal of Indian
History 49:1 (1971), p. 219.

22
and the case of Rukhmabai in its Ladies Column. This column would likely have been a
regular feature of the newspaper, and one which would have been designed for the female
readership. One can only speculate as to how many men would have actually read the
column. The column attempts to appeal directly to the English woman to support Rukhmabai
and her desires for legislative reform, saying English girls can scarcely realise the cruel law
which settles a womans fate before she knows her right from her left.59 It seems that this
was considered an issue, which British women should be made aware of, counting
themselves as fortunate that they were not a victim of such cultural religious practices. The
Dundee Evening Telegraph, 27 November 1890, explains how women in India were treated
as second class citizens, describing them as an unwelcome addition to the family.60 This
report presents the issue of child marriage as one of gender, with its support for Rukhmabais
campaign as an example. It expands on the suffering of women in India as a result of the
custom, and claims that mothers try to avert the bad luck of having a daughter by
superstitious ceremonies previous to the birth of the child.61 The Aberdare Times portrays
similar views to that of the Dundee Evening Telegraph, emphasising the despair of the Indian
girl, What is there for the girl? Money, privation, the mother in law, perhaps, suicide. All this
does not look like morality.62 It goes on to place the blame upon the men who persist with
early marriages, Is there any excuse for practicing infant marriages?63 The newspaper
believes it to be the duty of the British Government in India to stop the continuation of
dragging unwilling wives to husbands whom they never accept.64

Although there appears to be a slight shift in the attitudes within the British media towards
the issue of child marriage as being one of gender, concerned with the protection of the
Indian female, as a direct result of the publicity of the Rukhmabai case, there is still evidence
suggesting the concerns with the protection of childhood itself. For example, the Aberdeen
Weekly Journal, 20 November 1889, called for the agitation against child marriage,

59 Gale Digital Collection: Nineteenth Century British Newspapers Online, Ladies Column.
Berrows Worcester Journal, 18 May 1889, p. 2.

60 The British Newspaper Archive, Baby Girls in India. Dundee Evening Telegraph, 27 November
1890.

61 BNA, Baby Girls in India. Dundee Evening Telegraph, 27 November 1890.

62 Welsh Newspapers Online, Child Marriages. Aberdare Times, 6 September 1890.

63 WNO, Child Marriages. Aberdare Times, 6 September 1890.

64 WNO, Child Marriages. Aberdare Times, 6 September 1890.

23
explaining how in India itself, an association was formed by Raghunath Rao, with its
principle objective being to enforce the protection of children from the barbarous cruelty of
immature marriage.65 Often, newspaper reports have interlinked the factors of gender and
womanhood, with that of childhood. The Birmingham Daily Post, 15 August 1890, for
example, expresses how betrothal, marriage, and motherhood or widowhood are, we may
say, planned for accomplishment within the first thirteen years of life.66 Thus, the idea is
presented, that it is not an ordinary childhood for the Indian girl, and it is one which goes
against British moral values, and the innocence which we would associate with conventional
childhood. The female child is therefore forfeiting her childhood, as a direct result of the
custom. The Huddersfield Chronicle & West Yorkshire Advertiser, 22 June 1889, attempts to
directly evoke empathy from the British reader. It gives the example of an ill-treated child
wife eight or nine years of age, and although they play on the fact it was a girl who is being
abused, it appears that the age of the girl and therefore her welfare, which is principally of
concern.67 The article questions the British public itself, asking if this child had been the
offspring of an Englishman and the scene London, would the British have tolerated such
conduct?68 So, as well as being about the age of the child, and the fact that it is a young girl,
this newspaper is actually bringing the question of race into the debate, suggesting that there
is less outrage, when the victim is Indian.

Overall, is seems that prior to the heavily publicised case of Rukhmabai by The Times, the
concerns of the British media were over the nature of childhood itself; how Indian children
were being denied a childhood through enforced early marriage, and were therefore suffering
both mentally and physically. This suffering was often due to sexual abuse of the young child,
through premature intercourse, and the after-effects of this. The British press reported
countless stories of young wives being ill-treated in various ways by the family that she was
forced to live with, proving that it was not just sexual abuse which was of concern. I believe
that with this enhanced, nationwide, coverage by The Times in the mid and late 1880s on

65 Nineteenth Century British Newspapers Online, The Agitation against Child Marriage in India.
Aberdeen Weekly Journal, 20 November 1889.

66 NCBNO, Child Marriage in India. Birmingham Daily Post, 15 Aug 1890.

67 Nineteenth Century British Newspapers Online, Child-Marriage in India. The Huddersfield

Chronicle & West Yorkshire Advertiser, 22 June 1889, p. 7.

68 NCBNO, Child-Marriage in India. The Huddersfield Chronicle & West Yorkshire Advertiser, 22
June 1889, p. 7.

24
Rukhmabai, gender is placed at the forefront of the discourse, and we see a greater emphasis
placed upon the fact that is was primarily Indian women who were suffering. Some examples
do link the nature of childhood to that of gender, but there is a greater sense of the growing
concern for the protection and betterment of women in India, and I feel that Rukhmabai
herself directly influences this through cause to help her own Hindoo sisters.

25
 Chapter 4

Critique Against Antoinette Burtons Argument that the British Media Used the Body of an
Indian Woman as Evidence of the Necessity for Imperial Rule

26
In her 1998 article, Antoinette Burton has argued that the late Victorian press made public
the body of an Indian woman as evidence of the necessity of British imperial rule.69 This
chapter will seek to argue against her thesis, as I believe that it may very well have been the
intention of the British government to justify imperial rule in India, but this was not
necessarily the primary aim of the British press. Instead, I will argue that the press were
giving the British public the stories which they wanted to read about a story which evoked
their interests. As I have shown in chapter two, the media did pressure the British government
into considering legislative change, but I believe they pressured for change on the grounds of
humanitarian concern, not over a necessity to legitimise colonial rule. Although the British
government brought in legislation, after a decade of pressure on the subject from the press, I
will present evidence which shows the British media hoped that change would come
internally, through Indian reformers themselves. I believe this signifies direct opposition to
Burtons claims, because if the Indians were able to change the customs by themselves, it
would actually support the idea that British rule was not necessary.

It is important to remember, that every newspaper in Britain, was a business. Therefore, their
primary concern was to achieve the highest sales figures for every edition produced. One of
the most obvious ways to accomplish this, was to give their readership the news they wanted;
the stories which evoked interest and excitement. The case of Rukhmabai certainly did just
that, and The Times, February 1895, long after her case was concluded, says, It will be
remembered that considerable excitement was caused some years ago by the case of
Rukhmabai.70 Burton herself, has described the case as a melodrama for British
audiences.71 This story was ongoing; a regular column in many different newspapers. For
those interested, it would have been seen as a dramatic story which people wanted to know
the eventual ending to. Thus, a story such as this, would have served its purpose of helping to
sell newspapers. It was not just the case of Rukhmabai which would have evoked great
interest, for example, Nottingham Evening Post, 22 September 1888, printed a rather unusual
story about a girl named Aide, who was charged with drunkenness at Sunderland Police
Court, and when placed in the dock, she wept bitterly, and in broken English endeavoured to

69 Antoinette Burton, From Child Bride to Hindoo Lady: Rukhmabai and the Debate on Sexual
Respectability in Imperial Britain, in The American Historical Review, 103:4 (October, 1998), p.
1122.

70 The Times Digital Archive, India. The Times, 20 February 1895, p. 5.

71 Burton, Child Bride to Hindoo Lady, p. 1137.

27
explain that she was a native of Bombay, and had been married at the age of 13 to a soldier
who had brought her to England and had died, leaving her at the mercy of the world.72 This
story is the first example that I have come across which shows the issue of child marriage in
India as being a problem which can extend to the British Isles itself. Although a transnational
debate raged over the subject, this is direct evidence of how the effects of child marriage
could reach the shores of Britain. A story such as this would, no doubt, have shocked the
British public, and created even more discourse and interest in the wider case of Rukhmabai
and child marriage. The point I am making is that the primary aim of the newspapers was to
sell as many copies as possible, to make a profit, and a story such as Rukhmabai provided the
necessary means to do this. Thus, saying that it was the intention of the press to justify
imperial rule, when speaking on child marriage, is hard to substantiate. Instead, I feel the
British press were printing stories with a crucial purpose to create debate and excitement, in
order to profit themselves.

The heavy publicity of Rukhmabai and child marriage, by the British media, no doubt heaped
pressure onto the British government. I dispute the idea that the media were seeking a way to
legitimise colonial rule, through their opposition to child marriage, I instead feel, their
grounds for concern were purely of a humanitarian nature. The London Standard, 7 July
1888, when speaking on the case of Rukhmabai, states, hopes are expressed that legislative
means may be taken to prevent a repetition of the scandal involved in the bringing of such
suits.73 Two weeks later, Cheltenham Chronicle, when speaking on a different case of
injustice towards a child bride, states, It is hoped that the scandal caused by this case will
support Rukhmabais appeal for reform in the law.74 Very simply, these two newspapers
appear to show their direct support for Rukhmabai. They are in no way trying to justify
British rule in India. They are merely advocating their support for change which they hoped
would improve the lives of Indian women. Four years after the Age of Consent Bill was
passed, Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, under a column titled Interesting Items, explain how
In lower Bengal alone there are some 30,332 married girls and 6,780 married boys under
four years of age, besides some 7,000 widows, while nearly 4,000,000 girl-wives are under

72 The British Newspaper Archive, Child Marriage in India. Nottingham Evening Post, 22
September 1888.

73 The British Newspaper Archive, Child Marriage in India. London Standard, 7 July 1888.

74 The British Newspaper Archive, Child Marriage in India. Cheltenham Chronicle, 21 July 1888.

28
nine years old.75 The newspaper expresses how, Infant marriage certainly shows no sign of
dying out.76 This, although showing how the legislation had little real impact other than
symbolically, it shows that the interest of the British media, and the public alike, was with
stopping the custom all together. There is no evidence of the wish to use the legislation to
further colonial ambition in India. I believe that the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer,
16 August 1890, perfectly summarises the position of the British media within the child
marriage debates, saying, After considering the question from a different point of view, we
have no hesitation in supporting the memorandum, and the more so that the opposition to be
met has been shown to rest, not on a religious or economic basis, but merely on decaying and
pernicious custom.77 Here, there is no hidden agenda from the press and there is nothing
superficial about the fact that they hope to see child marriage eradicated. They wish, not, as
Burton argues, to morally strengthen and legitimise colonial rule in India, but to help protect
those at risk from the practice.

There is evidence that the British media was encouraging change to the custom of child
marriage from within India itself, and I believe this goes against Burtons claims that the
media was attempting to justify imperial rule in India. For example, The Times, 22 August
1887, who were the main platform for the case of Rukhmabai and child marriage, explains
how, It would be far more easy for the English in India, and ultimately for the English
government, to support a movement of native origin than to initiate one; and the initiation
should be undertaken, or at least attempted, by those educated women, such as Rukhmabai
herself and her friend Ramabai.78 The same newspaper, in the following year, published a
letter from Max Mller, that states his belief that any reform of the system must come from
within, not from without, and if such men as my friend Behramji Malabari will only continue
their noble efforts, their labours, I feel convinced, will not be in vain.79 These two sources
from the same newspaper show how they wanted to abolish the custom, but were presenting
the idea that it would be better to allow Indians to make the change themselves. They are

75 The British Newspaper Archive, Interesting Items. Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 10 December
1895.

76 BNA, Interesting Items. Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 10 December 1895.

77 The British Newspaper Archive, Child Marriage in India. Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer,
16 August 1890.

78 TDA, Our correspondent F. M. M. once more calls. The Times, 22 August 1887, p. 9.

79 TDA, The Cases of Rukhmabai and Ramabai. The Times, 14 January 1888, p. 4.

29
saying that the British need not create their own legislation, or if they do, Indian reformers
should be involved in the process. So this hardly demonstrates Burtons theory of the media
using the child marriage debates as a platform to show the necessity of imperial rule. In fact,
this shows the total opposite, as they are emphasising the idea of the Indians creating their
own social reform, which seems to show that the Indians did not necessarily need British
governance. Burton has stated that implicit in this public display of the Hindu child bride
was the argument that [] Indian men were as yet unfit for rule.80 Although The Times, and
other newspapers, were not advocating for an independent India, I feel that these two
examples go against this belief of Indian men as being seen as unfit to make their own
decisions, as The Times accentuates that it should be Indian reformers, both male and female,
who should have a large say in eradicating the custom.

The Western Daily Press, 4 November 1878, presents the example of a signed declaration by
twenty Asiatic students in Calcutta, who are against the custom of child marriage, stating, It
is satisfactory to learn that among the rising generation a sense of the magnitude of this evil is
springing up [] It is a small beginning, but as a beginning it is most satisfactory, and we
trust that this movement will spread widely.81 This, again, is an example against Burtons
main hypothesis and also when she says, For those who sided with Rukhmabai did so to
show up the apparent barbarity of Indian male reformers who abandoned her to prison.82 In
actual fact, this newspaper is praising the beginnings of the reformers in India this time
students. There is no concern here, of the need to justify British imperial rule, as otherwise
they would not hope for this movement to spread through India. If the concepts of this
movement were to spread and gain popularity, it would actually make it harder to justify the
need for imperial rule, as the Indians would be looking to stop these social evils without
British intervention.

Overall, I feel that Burton has not justified her claims that the British media made public the
body of an Indian woman as the evidence of necessity of British imperial rule. They may
have made the body of an Indian woman public, but I feel that their motivation to go against
the custom was driven out of humanitarian concern. It may have been the objective of the
British government to justify their rule in India, but I do not believe this to be the intention of
80 Burton, Child Bride to Hindoo Lady, p. 1122.

81 The British Newspaper Archive, Child Marriages in India. Western Daily Press, 4 November
1878.

82 Burton, Child Bride to Hindoo Lady, p. 1144.

30
the press. It was a custom that the press, along with the public, felt was wrong, as it caused
the suffering of millions of young Indian girls. I believe that a reason why the press gave such
publicity to the story of Rukhmabai was because it was a story that excited British interest,
and, as an ongoing saga which people wanted regular updates on, it no doubt would have
helped to sell more newspapers. I have provided evidence from the British media, which
suggests that they were actually advocating for internal change, from the Indian reformers
themselves. This, I believe is the most influential factor which opposes Burtons thesis,
because if reform was to come from Indians themselves, it would emphasise, to an extent,
that the Indians were capable of implementing social change, and thus British imperial rule
was not a necessity.

31
Conclusion

32
My research has shown that the British media was a vocal presence in the discourse
surrounding the child marriage debates and the case of Rukhmabai in the later part of the
nineteenth century. In chapter one, I have shown how newspapers of the period can be used to
help gauge public opinion on the issue, and reveals how the British saw the custom as being a
social evil, a cause of great suffering for many. I believe the British public, along with
sections of the feminist movement, did engage with the topic for a positive reason, such as
the protection of children and improving the status of women in society, but I feel that there is
an undertone of moral superiority on their behalf. My second chapter, has revealed how The
Times was the first newspaper to bring the case of Rukhmabai to public attention, and how,
through its continual reporting of the story, coupled with a tradition of pressurising the
government for reform, was effective on this issue. The regional press are united in their
discourse, against child marriage, adding further pressure upon the British government. In
chapter three, I have come to the conclusion that prior to the case of Rukhmabai, the British
media appear to be concerned with the protection of children, both from domestic and sexual
abuse. However, once the case of Rukhmabai became heavily publicised by the media, the
issue of child marriage seems to become one of gender, concerned with the protection of
young girls from the custom of child marriage. In my final chapter, I have provided necessary
evidence to refute the claims of Burton, that the British media made public the body of an
Indian woman as the justification for the necessity of British colonial rule. I believe this may
have been the intention of the government, but not necessarily the press, who I feel, saw the
custom as a humanitarian concern. I have provided evidence which shows that the press, on
different occasions, called for internal change, which provides an opposing view to Burton,
suggesting that the media were showing the Indian people as being capable of enacting
change themselves, and thus colonial rule was not a necessity.

I feel that it would be poignant to end my dissertation by noting that this is a custom which is
still practiced today, and a custom which still has the ability to make headlines in both the
British and Indian press. This week, in fact, I discovered an article on Metro.co.uk, one of the
largest online newspapers in Britain, who published the harrowing story of an Indian girl,
Duli Hembron, aged nine, who wrote to her teacher saying, I do not want to get married, I
took an oath at the time of admission that I will not get married before I turn eighteen, I do
not wish to get married early.83 What I find most striking, is the obvious parallels between

83 Richard Hartley-Parkinson, Girl, 13, Writes Desperate Letter to Try and Stop Arranged
Marriage, Metro.co.uk, 21 April 2015.http://metro.co.uk/2015/04/21/girl-13-writes-desperate-letter-
to-try-and-stop-arranged-marriage-5159559/ (Accessed: 23/04/2015)

33
Hembrons story in 2015, and Rukhmabais story in the 1880s. How, despite legislation in
India, it is a custom which still continues, with experts believing that more than 140 million
girls will become child brides across the world between 2011 and 2020.84 It is saddening to
think, that young girls, in certain parts of the world, in this modern age, are no better off than
Rukhmabai was over a century ago. What I find most interesting, is that, even today, the
custom of child marriage, is still being reflected and talked about by the British media.

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Davis, J., The Age of Consent: A Warning from History: The Work of Josephine Butler, in
The Christian Institute (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 2009) http://www.christian.org.uk/wp-
content/downloads/aoc_warning.pdf (Accessed: 15/04/2015)

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