In this episode, historian Dr. Ishita Pande speaks with us about the Phulmoni Dasi case and the problems with gender justice debates around child marriage in India.

‘In Perspective’ is The Swaddle’s podcast series where academics reveal little-known facts about Indian history, society and culture. 

Notes: 

00:01:03:15- How did legal norms around age for regulating sexuality come into existence in India?

00:06:23:03- What was the Phulmoni Dasi rape case? How did that case reconstitute child marriage as a socio-medical problem, with a substantial focus on the child-wife’s body? What were the problems with this kind of discourse?

00:12:49:19- How did arguments around boys and boyhood become important in the passage of the Child Marriage Restraint Act? Were similar concerns expressed about protecting girls? 

00:12:49:19- In what ways did the public debate around the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 end up rendering Muslims a political minority? 

00:19:48:09- What debates did the ‘Rangeela Rasool’ tract generate in 1924?

00:26:20:21- How did developments in the field of sexology affect the debates and arguments in favor of regulating children’s sexuality and child marriage in the 20th century? 

00:31:55:07- What inspired your work around age in relation to sexual relations?