Status of Women in Pre-Constitutional Period

 

Pre-constitutional period means period before the enactment of the Constitution of India i.e. 26^th January, 1950 across India. It includes the British Rule era and period between 15^th August, 1947 and 26^th January, 1950.

During British rule the position of wife in household was at sorry level. The women were dominated in domestic sphere. Literacy rate was also very low, hardly 1 out-off  100 women was able to read and write. Evil social practices, dogmatic religious beliefs, inhuman superstitions and sinister customs caused the maximum degree of deterioration. Child marriage, enforced widowhood, sati, Devadasi, purdah, burkha, dowry, female infanticide and the practice of polygamy made the Indian society static. One sect of the society was having easy provisions of divorce but in the majority the provision for divorce was not present.

During the communal tensions between the religious groups, only the women were victims of sexual violence. During such riots, specifically in Madras precidency, if a pregnant woman was caught then the rioters use to cut her belly and let her to die. Age old women were killed by these rioters. Female children, young girls and other adult women were raped heinously. Also in some parts during such riots, specifically during partition, in the area of Punjab and Bengal, the women were disrobed and forced to walk in front of rioters and then they were gang-raped brutally. British rulers were not able to handle such communal riots and such incidences took place many times even after 1900.

The majority religious group was practicing some things such as child marriages, enforced widowhood, sati, Devadasi, purdah, etc. But the social reformers such as Raja Ram Mohan Ray, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, Savitri Bai Phule, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and others protested for the abolition of such practices and they stressed for the women education and widow remarriages. Their efforts were accepted by the majority religious groups.

The majority religious group accepted the reforms Sati’ was legally abolished in December, 1829. After the abolition of ‘Sati’ the Britisher’s realized the pitiable conditions of the Hindu widows and enacted the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act in 1856. The Hindu Woman’s Right to Property Act was passed in the year 1937. It intended to improve the position of widows in respect of property. The Child Marriage Restraint Act was passed in 1929. This Act penalized the marriage of girls below fourteen and boys below eighteen years of age. They accepted the reforms and many inhumane practices were abolished and many Acts in favour of Hindu women were passed. Also for these reforms Hindus supported to the protests and then government was forced to pass the enactments.

Some religious groups were against such reforms and from such groups practices like polygamy were not reformed, because no one was there to protest against such practices. And still there are some sects in the society where polygamy, dowry, no education rights, child marriage, etc. are practiced which are heinous.

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