New Delhi: During the hearing of a defamation case against the victim of sexual harassment, a senior journalist alleged that MJ Akbar made an attempt to forcibly kiss her. She also alleged that he had touched her inappropriately.
Defence witness
The journalist who is a defence witness in the defamation case recounted the incidents which had reportedly taken place after she joined ‘The Asian Age’ in 1994.
In the court of Additional Chief Magistrate Vishal Pahuja, she said that in the month of August 1997, MJ Akbar messaged her on the newspaper’s intranet asking her to come to his cabin. When she entered the cabin, Akbar reportedly grabbed her waist and touched her private parts.
Akbar reportedly tried to kiss her
Recalling the incident which took place the next day, the journalist said that Akbar had asked her to come to his cabin again and when she entered the room, he forcibly tried to kiss her.
She further claimed that even after approaching Bureau Chief, she did not get any help.
It may be mentioned that at that time, the journalist was a 26-year-old woman and Akbar was Editor-in-Chief.
She informed the court that she tried to say ‘no’ to Akbar but he was not willing to accept it.
She claimed that he used to send a tarot card reader to convince her.