India as a country has witnessed a tumultuous change in post-colonial period by strengthening its position in every frontiers of human societal pursuits. However, women at large have not been able to find an equal footing with its male counterpart as India in general is a male oriented-dominated society. They are being subjected to social atrocities and discriminatory practices like dowry, sati (self-immolation), child marriage and female feticide. A country cannot really develop in a true sense if women are left out in the process of development as they play an equal role in making of society. Keeping this in mind a conscious effort should be made to ensure equal status of rights to women. Sikkim is an exceptional state of India which doesn’t witness social atrocities and discriminatory practices like other states of India. Sikkim, also known as Demojong (hidden valley of rice) or Nye-ma-el (heaven) is a tiny Himalayan state with the smallest population of 6,10,577 covering an area of 2,814 square miles in the eastern Himalayan region of India Its total population is 6,10,577 out of which women comprise 47.09 per cent of the total population thereby, making women one of the minority groups in Sikkim (2011 census). According to 2011 census, conducted byDirectorate of Census Operations the sex ratio of Sikkim is 889 women:1000 men. In Sikkim, female’s literacy rate is 75.61 per cent which is less than male literacy rate which is 81.42 per cent (2011 census).This paper will employ historical, analytical and case-study methods to study of the status of women during monarchical phase and post-merger phase in Sikkim. It will employ legal standards in Sikkim as a single variable to study the status of women in Sikkim. The status of Sikkimese women rights is studied based on three indicators that are i) citizenship rights of women ii) property or inheritance rights of women iii) women’s rights relating to marriage and divorce. However, this paper will also briefly discuss about the various rights conferred to Sikkimese women.
