Illustration by Nithya Subramanian
It took nearly two years and more than 50 hearings for a district court in Delhi to acquit journalist Priya Ramani in a defamation case filed by former Union Minister MJ Akbar.
The trigger for the defamation case came amidst the #MeToo campaign in 2018 where scores of women took to social media to speak up about incidents of sexual harassment. Several who had previously been inhibited by fear made allegations about prominent men in the field of journalism, advertising, arts, music and sports.
On Twitter, Ramani accused Akbar of harassment in an incident that had taken place in a hotel room in 1993, when she was a young reporter and he was an established newspaper editor. After that, 20 women accused Akbar of grave sexual misconduct during his years as editor.
A verdict that has ended a long silence
Updated:
Updated:
February 20, 2021 00:41 IST
The Priya Ramani case is a key moment in the legal process that has often failed to bring justice to women complainants
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The Priya Ramani case is a key moment in the legal process that has often failed to bring justice to women complainants
The acquittal of Priya Ramani, a journalist, on a complaint of criminal defamation by former Union Minister M.J. Akbar has come as a vindication to a long line of women who have not been taken seriously earlier when they have alleged sexual harassment. Many an allegation has often remained unvoiced for fear of ridicule, shaming, or on grounds of sheer financial necessity. There have also been those who feel that anything short of rape or outraging a woman’s modesty is not actionable. That long silence has now been broken by this verdict. A powerful man’s predatory past has caught up with him, when a not-so-powerful victim chose to
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CHENNAI, India (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The threat of jail under India’s criminal defamation law has had a “chilling effect” on the country’s #MeToo movement, the lawyer who successfully defended a female journalist sued by a former government minister has warned.
M. J. Akbar stepped down as a minister in 2018 after he was accused of sexual misconduct during his earlier career as a newspaper editor by a number of women, including the journalist Priya Ramani.
Akbar, who denies all the allegations, filed a criminal defamation lawsuit against Ramani accusing her of having “fabricated” her story.
This week a court in New Delhi found Ramani not guilty of the charge, which carries a sentence of up to two years in jail.