A court in Delhi acquitted a defamation journalist after she accused a former government minister of sexual assault in a historic decision for India’s #MeToo movement.
Indian journalist Priya Ramani faced up to two years in prison for criminal defamation due to an article she wrote accusing Mobashar Jawed Akbar, a former foreign minister and newspaper editor, of sexually assaulting her in a hotel room during a job interview.
Ramani had initially written the article for Vogue in 2017 without naming Akbar, but decided to go public in 2018 at the height of the #MeToo movement.
Following Ramani’s statement, more than 20 other women filed complaints against Akbar, ranging from rape and assault to the systematic use of his senior position to harass young journalists.
Akbar was the founder and editor of several Indian newspapers, as well as serving as a politician in the Congress party government between 1989 and 1991 before joining the Bharatiya Janata (BJP) government in 2014, when he took power.
After the charges, Akbar resigned as junior foreign minister, one of India’s most important #MeToo resignations. He considered the allegations “false, unfounded and wild” and in 2018 opened a criminal defamation case against Ramani. The court ruled on Wednesday that he had not proved his criminal case against her.
Akbar took 97 lawyers with him in his first court appearance. As the case continued for more than two years, Ramani refused to make a deal with Akbar out of court and, in September 2020, told the Delhi court that he had shared his experience to encourage other women to speak out.
“It feels incredible, it really does,” said Ramani, speaking to reporters outside the courtroom following Wednesday’s verdict. “I feel vindicated on behalf of all women who have spoken out against sexual harassment in the workplace. Sexual harassment has received the attention it deserves, despite the fact that it is me, being the victim who had to appear in court as an accused ”.
Ramani said he hoped the verdict would make “powerful men think twice before taking victims to court”.
After the #MeToo movement swept India in 2018, hundreds of women turned to social media to speak out against sexual misconduct and some cited their alleged harassers. However, many of those who spoke out faced legal threats, including criminal defamation.
Many hope that the verdict in this case will set an important precedent. Ramani’s lawyer, Rebecca John, called him “the most important case of my life”.
Judge Ravindra Kumar Pandey’s trial drew praise from many, in particular for emphasizing that “even a man of social standing can be a sexual harasser”.
“Victims of sexual abuse sometimes don’t speak for many years, because she may have no idea that she is a victim of such abuse. She can believe she is to blame, ”Pandey told the court in Delhi. “The right to reputation cannot be protected at the expense of the right to dignity.”
The decision to clear Ramani of defamation charges was met with relief and triumph by women across India.
Indian writer Sonia Faleiro, author of The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing, said: “In India, it takes immense personal courage to speak the truth to power, especially when the individual in question is a member of the government who is likely to use all means at their disposal to destroy it. “
Describing Akbar as “a Goliath convinced of his invincibility”, Faleiro said that Ramani’s victory at court was “a success for India – a success for all women and, indeed, for all people. At a time when freedom of expression in India is under grave threat, she incarnated David and gave us all hope. “
Karuna Nundy, a supreme court lawyer who helped shape India’s anti-rape bill, said: “This victory is significant because it preserves the right of women to speak and has published her true #MeToo reports of sexual assault and harassment, even who decide not to make you file lawsuits against your harassers. Many will not, until we strengthen the system. “
Nundy praised the court’s decision to recognize “that a woman has the right to complain about being assaulted or harassed long after the crime.”
Dozens of journalists and writers also spoke about the significance of the decision. “This is a major victory for all women in India and a major step forward for gender justice in the workplace,” tweeted journalist Sagarika Ghose.
“Her victory seems so personal to me and many women like me,” tweeted Shilpa Rathnam, a television journalist. Journalist Aparna Jain said in a tweet that Priya “won this case for all women”.
“Priya has borne the brunt of this whole case. The trip. The accusations. The questions. The abuse. She endured for all the women she knows. For all the women mentioned in that trial, ”wrote Jain.
Akbar, who denies all charges, had the right to appeal.