New Delhi: As the #MeToo movement strengthening its roots in India, twenty women journalist came out in support of Priya Ramani who alleged sexual harassment against Union Minister MJ Akbar.
In their joint statement, on Tuesday, they said they are ready to give their testimonies in court in favour of Priya Ramani.
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Women journalists requested the court to hear their testimonies before giving its judgment. They further added that some of them were sexually harassed by MJ Akbar and some others bore witness to harassment of their colleagues. Priya Ramani is not alone in this fight against predator Akbar, we are all with her, they added. All these twenty women journalist worked under Akbar at different points in their life in different cities.
Meenal Bhagel, Maneesha Pande, Tushita Patel, Kanika Gehlaut, Suparna Sharma, Ramola Talwar Badam, Hoihnu Hauzel, Aisha Khan, Khushalrani Ghulab have signed the document.
Christina Francis who worked with the Deccan Chronicle also signed the statement. Kaniza Gazari, Malavika Banerjee, A T Jayanthi, Hamida Parkar, Jonali Buragohain, Meenakshi Kumar, Sujata Dutta Sachdeva, Reshmi Chakraborty, Kiran Manral and Sanjari Chatterjee are the other women journalists to sign the statement.
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Earlier, Akbar filed a defamation suit in Patiala House court against Priya Ramani over #MeToo charges. MJ Akber in his statement released to press after his return from Africa said that sexual harassment allegations against him are ‘false and fabricated, spiced up by innuendo and malice.’