Enslaved Daughters

Download or read book Enslaved Daughters written by Sudhir Chandra and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2008-02-27 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the second edition of a remarkable study of a young woman's defiant stand against Hindu orthodoxy and the colonial legal establishment in the late nineteenth century India. It revolves around a suit for 'restitution of conjugal rights' filed against Rukhmabai, who was married at age eleven and refused to go and live with her husband. This lucid and engaging account captures the dramatic unfolding of the litigation, as well as the huge social and political debate set off by it. The narrative skilfully weaves together the details of the case with larger issues of gender and law, colonialism, culture, reform, and modernity. This edition includes a new Afterword in which the author analyses a vexatious libel case into which the rival party dragged Rukhmabai with a view to breaking her will, even before the original suit has been settled. This book will interest students and scholars of gender studies, family law, feminist perspective of history, legal history, and also general readers.