In the wake of the #MeToo movement, M.J. Akbar was slapped with 16 allegations of sexual harassment. Although there wasn’t any initial response, as the social media outrage rose, Akbar quit his post as the Minister of State for External Affairs. And while he’s fighting the accusations placed against him by Priya Ramani, Akbar has been accused of raping a journalist during his time at Asian Age.
Recently, the chief business editor for NPR, Pallavi Gogoi came to know about multiple women speaking up against M.J. Akbar. That motivated Pallavi to share her own story with the Washington Post, accusing Akbar of raping her.
Those before me have given me the courage to reach into the recesses of my mind and confront the monster that I escaped from decades ago. Together, our voices tell a different truth @TushitaPatel @SuparnaSharma @priyaramani @ghazalawahab
My story https://t.co/DG5dT7TEUU— Pallavi Gogoi (@pgogoi) November 1, 2018
“I went to show him the op-ed page I had created with what I thought were clever headlines. He applauded my effort and suddenly lunged to kiss me. I reeled. I emerged from the office, red-faced, confused, ashamed, destroyed.”
This incident took place when Akbar was in his 40’s and Pallavi was in her 20’s. Akbar was the editor of Asian Age, while Pallavi had recently taken on the position of the op-ed editor for the same institution.
The second incident occurred only a few months after Akbar had lunged at Pallavi. This time it was Bombay and Pallavi was summoned to help him launch a magazine. She said,
“He called me to his room at the fancy Taj hotel, again to see the layouts. When he again came close to me to kiss me, I fought him and pushed him away. He scratched my face as I ran away, tears streaming down.”
When Pallavi got back from Delhi, Akbar threatened her that he’d kick her out of the job if she ever resisted again. However, Pallavi didn’t quit the paper and continued to work.
Pallavi’s next assignment took her to a remote village, far away from Delhi. And since that assignment was to end in Jaipur, Akbar asked her to come to his hotel in the city. She said,
“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. I didn’t tell anyone about this then.”
Pallavi said that after that incident, Akbar got more and more aggressive. He continued to defile her sexually, verbally and emotionally. Additionally, it led to bursts of outrage in the newsroom whenever he caught Pallavi talking to her male colleagues.
Soon after, Akbar sent Pallavi to London, and that gave her a sigh of relief. However, she soon realised it was a move to rob Pallavi of her defenses. She said,
“I recall the time he worked himself into a rage in the London office because he had seen me talk in a friendly manner to a male colleague. After my colleagues left work that evening, he hit me and went on a rampage, throwing things from the desk at me — a pair of scissors, a paperweight, whatever he could get his hands on.”
This left Pallavi “in shreds – emotionally, physically, mentally”. And she not only got out of London after this incident, but she also left her job at Asian Age.
“I got a job as a reporting assistant, working on the overnight shift at Dow Jones in New York.”
Washington Post got in touch with Sandeep Kapur, who is the M.J. Akbar’s lawyer at the moment. He was asked to comment on the accusations on Akbar by Pallavi. His response was this: “My client states that these [incidents and allegations] are false and expressly denied.”