Victory for Indian MeToo movement as minister accused of predatory behaviour loses defamation suit

Indian journalist Priya Ramani, left, went public with allegations against a high-profile editor and minister (file photo) 

Credit: AP Photo/File

A former minister lost a defamation suit on Wednesday against a woman who had accused him of sexual harassment, in a verdict hailed as a major victory for India’s #MeToo movement.

In 2018, Priya Ramani became the first of a string of women to go public with allegations against MJ Akbar, a former high-profile newspaper editor and later a junior minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

She was inspired by the #MeToo movement against sexual assault that sprang up in the US and spread worldwide following accusations against Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein in 2017.

Ms Ramani wrote an article in Vogue magazine about the inappropriate behaviour of an unnamed editor the same year and one year later alleged it was Mr Akbar.

She said she was 23 when Mr Akbar called her to a Mumbai hotel for a job interview more than 20 years ago and told her to come up to his room.

"Turns out you were as talented a predator as you were a writer. It was more date, less interview," she wrote in the article. "You offered me a drink from the mini bar (I refused, you drank vodka), we sat on a small table for two… and you sang me old Hindi songs after inquiring after my musical preferences. You thought you were irresistible," she said.

Indian journalist MJ Akbar 

Credit: SAM PANTHAKY/AFP via Getty Images

"The bed, a scary interview accompaniment, was already turned down for the night. Come sit here, you said at one point, gesturing to a tiny space near you," she said.

Mr Akbar, 70, who has not been charged with any offence, called the allegations "baseless".

Soon after, he stepped down as junior foreign minister and sued Ms Ramani for defamation, saying it had caused "irreparable damage to (my) reputation and goodwill".

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Pandey said "a man of social status can also be a sexual harasser," adding that "sexual abuse takes away dignity and self-confidence and right of reputation can’t be protected at the cost of right to dignity".

Mr Akbar denied asking to meet Ms Ramani in a hotel, and accused her of using "language that was deeply offensive" and creating "a web of fabrication, spun out of lies."

#PriyaRamani was the top-trending hashtag on Twitter in India with many hailing it as a major victory that will inspire other victims to come forward.

The court order said: "The time has come for our society to understand the sexual abuse and sexual harassment and its implications on victims."