Rape survivor's child to carry surname, caste of single mother: Bombay High Court

A division bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Hiten S Venegavkar granted relief to a 12-year-old girl and her mother from Beed, Maharashtra, affirming that recognising a single mother as the sole source of a child's civic identity strengthens society rather than undermining it.

In a groundbreaking ruling that resonates with India’s evolving constitutional ethos and ongoing conversations around gender justice, the Bombay High Court has affirmed that a child can carry the name, surname, and caste of their rape-survivor single mother.

The division bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Hiten S Venegavkar delivered the ruling while granting relief to a 12-year-old girl and her mother from Beed district in Maharashtra.

The court underscored that legal recognition of a single mother as the sole source of a child’s civic identity strengthens, rather than weakens, society.

"Recognition of a single mother as the full source of a child’s civic identity, name including lineage descriptor, and caste, where the facts warrant, does not dilute society but, on the contrary, it civilises it," the bench observed.

The judges further stated that the ruling represents a decisive shift in legal thought, moving away from patriarchal mandates toward values grounded in constitutional freedom and individual dignity.

By recognising that a mother can be the only and complete parent in every meaningful respect, the law does more than settle a dispute between parties; it reinforces the foundational promise that no person—especially a child—should bear the burden of the circumstances of their birth or the wrongdoing of their parents.