A court in the Indian capital, New Delhi, has acquitted a female journalist accused of sexually harassing former federal minister Mubashir Javed (MJ) Akbar in a sexual harassment case.
MJ Akbar had on October 15, 2018 filed a defamation suit against journalist Priya Ramani for making false allegations of sexual harassment.
Compared to other countries, the citizens of India have the right to file criminal cases under defamation.
MJ Akbar, while filing a case against Priya Ramani, had claimed in the petition that the woman had made false allegations against him, which had tarnished his reputation and politics.
Priya Ramani had accused MJ Akbar of sexual harassment in early October 2018.
Priya Ramani had mentioned only MJ Akbar's name in October 2018 when she told the story of her sexual harassment in an article published in the fashion magazine Vogue in 2017, however, she did not mention her name in the article. The name was not written.
Priya Ramani had claimed that MJ Akbar had sexually harassed her in 1994 at the age of 23. At that time, MJ Akbar was the editor of a magazine and Priya Ramani had gone to interview him for the job.
After Priya Ramani, other women also accused MJ Akbar of sexual harassment.
Most of the women had said that they had sexually harassed MJ Akbar when he was in journalism and editor of his Sunday Guardian.
However, some women accused him of sexual harassment even after he entered politics and took over the Foreign Ministry.
Some women claimed that MJ Akbar sexually harassed them and that he did not shy away from most of the female journalists interviewed sitting close to him, drinking alcohol and later talking to them in a romantic way. Used to do, which is why women did not feel calm.
MJ Akbar had at the time resigned from the ministry denouncing all the allegations as false and had first sued Priya Ramani, the female journalist who made the allegations.
And now, a year and a half later, the court has settled his case and acquitted the female journalist.
According to the Times of India, a New Delhi court acquitted Priya Ramani in a brief verdict, saying it was a shame that the woman was being defamed for speaking out against sexual harassment.
In a report, the BBC quoted Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Rendra Pandey as saying that women were being sexually harassed even in a country where women like Mahabharata and Ramayana were being harassed. Stories were written for rights.
Delivering the verdict in the case, the judge said that MJ Akbar could not prove his claim as to how Priya Ramani had made false allegations against him.
The judge, in his remarks, said that even a man who is important in the society can sexually harass women.
He added that the dignity of the person being sexually harassed is damaged and they also lack self-confidence.
The New York Times reported that the court said in remarks during the hearing that Priya Ramani's allegations and complaints fall under the category of harassment in the workplace and the court rejected MJ Akbar's application.
MJ Akbar was seen coming to court with protocol during the hearings; file photo: Reuters
During the hearing, MJ Akbar's lawyers also asked Priya Ramani about her silence on the issue for several years, but the court remarked that the woman wanted to remain silent for decades on the injustice done to her. Can live
If MJ Akbar had succeeded in proving his claims in the case, Priya Ramani could have been sentenced to two years in jail and fined.
According to the Indian Express, after the verdict, Priya Ramani while talking to the media termed the verdict as a victory of all Indian women and not her own and said that now women will have the courage to bring to light the injustice done to them.
The case is being hailed as the beginning of a new era of 'Me Too' campaign in India and it is believed that the courts will follow suit in the rest of the cases.
The 'Me Too' campaign was launched in India in early 2018, but it was launched in Bollywood in September 2018 after actress Tanushree Dutta accused actor Nana Patikkar of sexual harassment.
Under the 'Me Too' campaign, a number of Bollywood celebrities, sports personalities, industrialists and politicians in India have also been accused of sexual harassment, rape and exploitation by women, and many women have filed cases of injustice against them decades later.
Similarly, a number of individuals have filed lawsuits for sexual harassment against them decades later, while others have sued themselves.
Complaints were also lodged with the police against the false allegations.
The 'Me Too' campaign was launched in the United States in October 2017, when at least three dozen women and actresses first accused film producer Harry Winston of rape, sexual harassment and exploitation.
Harvey Winston was later jailed by a US court in early 2020 for raping a woman a decade and a half ago.
Under the 'Me Too' campaign, women from all over the world, including the United States and India, are exposing their inappropriate attitudes, including the incidents of sexual harassment that have befallen them since October 2017, and the campaign is in full swing in Pakistan as well.
