As women, we feel vindicated, says journalist Priya Ramami over MJ Akbar’s resignation

ISLAMABAD: Indian journalist Priya Ramani said that she was feeling vindicated by the resignation of union minister MJ Akbar who stepped down over allegations of sexual assault.

His resignation came a day after he filed a defamation case against woman journalist Priya Ramani, one of the 10 women who accused the minister of sexual misconduct.

In a statement that was tweeted by news agency ANI, Akbar said that he was resigning since he had decided to seek justice in a court of law in a personal capacity.

Akbar was accused of sexual harassment from his former colleagues during his stint as editor of The Asian Age. He had termed the allegations against him as “baseless” and “fabricated” and filed a criminal defamation complaint against journalist Priya Ramani, who was the first to name him.

Ramani was the first to name Akbar in a Twitter post October 8, following which over ten women also levelled sexual harassment allegations against him. In a statement issued on Sunday, Akbar had named four other women who had accused him but filed the criminal defamation complaint only against Ramani.

“As women we feel vindicated by MJ Akbar’s resignation. I look forward to the day when I will also get justice in court #metoo,” Priya Ramani tweeted.