Two weeks after M.J. Akbar resigned as minister of state for external affairs following multiple allegations of sexual harassment, a US-based journalist has accused him of raping her when she worked with the Asian Age. Akbar was the founder-editor of the Asian Age.
Pallavi Gogoi, who is presently chief business editor of National Public Radio in the US, made the allegation against Akbar in a column in the Washington Post on Thursday. Gogoi wrote that the abuse suffered when working under Akbar at the Asian Age were the “most painful memories of my life. I have shelved them away for 23 years.”
Gogoi wrote that Akbar forcibly attempted to kiss her twice. The first incident was in 1994 when she, as the op-ed page editor for the Asian Age, went to Akbar's office cabin to discuss work. The second incident happened some months later, when Akbar summoned Gogoi to his room at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai for discussions on the launch of a magazine.
Gogoi claimed she was raped after she went to Akbar's hotel room in Jaipur to discuss a story on the murder of an intercaste couple. “In his hotel room, even though I fought him, he was physically more powerful. He ripped off my clothes and raped me. Instead of reporting him to the police, I was filled with shame,” Gogoi wrote in the Washington Post.
Gogoi wrote that Akbar continued to harass her sexually and verbally, often flying into a rage if he saw her talking to male colleagues at the Asian Age.
While Gogoi noted that Akbar got her a foreign posting in the UK, she argued the move was aimed at ensuring she had no “defence” and he could “prey” on her when he visited. Gogoi wrote Akbar hit her and threw office stationery at her in London for talking to a male colleague. She left the Asian Age after Akbar summoned her to return to India.
Gogoi is the first woman journalist who has made an open allegation of rape against Akbar. Allegations of sexual harassment against Akbar started emerging early in October after journalist Priya Ramani tweeted about it. Since then, at least 12 women accused Akbar of sexual harassment and molestation. Akbar resigned from his ministerial post on October 17, but filed a defamation suit against Ramani.
