Akbar resigns as Minister over allegations of sexual assault |
As predicted, Union Minister of State for External Affairs, M J Akbar, resigned 17 October 2018 in the face of allegations of sexual harrassment and assault from now more than a handful of his former colleagues during his days in journalism. For more than a week, a never-ending series of allegations were leveled by women who worked with him during his heydays as Editor of The Asian Age newspaper he co-founded. Akbar dismissed the allegations are “baseless” and “fabricated” and filed a criminal defamation complaint against journalist Priya Ramani, the first to name him. A Delhi court will begin hearing the case against Ramani from 18 October. Akbar said in a statement that since he had decided to seek justice in a court of law in his personal capacity, he was stepping down from office to challenge false accusations levied against him. Akbar said he was deeply grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for the opportunity given to him. Allegations date back prior to the current Modi government coming into office. Meanwhile, an application has been submitted asking the court to consider testimonies of sexual harassment by 20 other (than Ramani) signatories of sexual harassment of some of them and others who bore witness to the harassment.
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