Mary Roy is a symbol of women’s rights struggle. That name will be immortalized by the landmark ruling that gave Christian girls equal rights in the patrimony. It was through Mary Roy’s legal struggle that Christian women could experience the fundamental right of equality between men and women in the Indian Constitution.
In terms of patrimony, girls in the Syrian Christian community, who followed the Tiru-Kochi Law of Inheritance, had received only nominal property rights. If the father dies without writing a will, the girl gets only Rs 5,000 or one-fourth of the son’s property. If dowry is given, it is not. Even though the Indian Constitution came into existence and gender equality became a fundamental right, the community was not ready to change only the property rights of daughters. Mary Roy started a legal battle against this discrimination.
In 1984, she approached the Supreme Court. Mary Roy’s contention was that the Travancore Christian Succession Act should be declared invalid as it was contrary to the fundamental rights of the Constitution. On February 24, 1986, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the case. Chief Justice Bhagwati and Justice R. S. The judgment was pronounced along with the lesson. Although the law was upheld in 1986, Mary Roy had to wait for the Kerala High Court judgment on April 1, 2001 to get her father’s property. Mary Roy’s personal fight has forever stood as a symbol of the legitimacy of equality in women’s lives.