to do more.
Age of Consent Act, 1891: It was a British legislation enacted on 19
March 1891 raising the age of consent for sexual intercourse for all girls,
married or unmarried, from ten to 12 years in all jurisdictions. Its violation
was subject to criminal prosecution as rape. The act was an amendment of
the Indian Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure, Section 375,
1882, and was introduced as a bill on 9 January 1891 by Sir Andrew
Scoble in the Central Legislature. It was debated the same day and
opposed by council member Sir Romesh Chunder Mitter (from Bengal) on
the grounds that it interfered with orthodox Hindu code, but supported by
council member Rao Bahadur Krishnaji Lakshman Nulkar (from Bombay)
and by the President of the council, the Governor-General and Viceroy
Lord Lansdowne.
While an 1880 case in a Bombay high court by a child-bride,
Rukhmabai, renewed discussion of such a law, the death of an eleven-
year-old Bengali girl, Phulomnee, due to forceful intercourse by her 35-
year-old husband in 1889, necessitated intervention by the British. The act
received support from Indian reformers such as Behramji Malabari and
social organisations. The law was never seriously enforced and it is argued
that the real effect of the law was reassertion of Hindu patriarchal control
over domestic issues as a nationalistic cause.
Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929: Popularly known as the Sharda Act
after its sponsor Rai Sahib Harbilas Sharda to the British India Legislature,
it was passed on 28 September 1929, fixing the age of marriage for girls at
14 years and boys at 18 years. It came into effect six months later on 1
April, 1930 and it applies to all of British India, not just to Hindus. It was
a result of social reform movement in India. The legislation was passed by
the British Indian Government.
It was the first social reform issue which was taken up by the
organized women in India. They played a major role in the development
of argument and actively used the device of political petition and in the
process contributed in the field of politics.
The various organized women’s associations got the opportunity of
playing independent political role when the cautious British India