A Delhi Court on Wednesday acquitted journalist Priya Ramani in the defamation case filed against her by former Union Minister MJ Akbar. Ramani had filed a case of sexual harassment against Akbar in 2018.
Acquitting her of all charges, the court said that ‘women can’t be punished for raising instances of sexual abuse’ and that ‘right of reputation cannot be protected at cost of right to dignity.’
After her acquittal, an elated Ramani said, “It feels amazing, truly does. I feel vindicated on behalf of all the women who have ever spoken out against sexual harassment. Sexual harassment has got the attention it deserves.”
The twitterati hailed the court’s verdict and it’s been trending on the micro-blogging site since the past few hours. Here’s what people tweeted:
Miss Ramani had accused MJ Akbar of sexual misconduct in 2018. She had stated that the incident took place 20 years ago, when Akbar was the editor of Asian Age. She had alleged that he had called her for a job interview in his hotel bedroom and had behaved inappropriately. Two days later, MJ Akbar resigned from PM Narendra Modi’s cabinet (October 17, 2018).
