Union Minister MJ Akbar on Wednesday resigned as the Minister of State External Affairs after at least 20 women accused him of sexual harassment.
In his statement, Akbar wrote, “Since I have decided to seek justice in a court of law in my personal capacity, I deem it appropriate to step down from office and challenge false accusations levied against me..”
#MJAkbar resigns from his post of Minister of State External Affairs MEA. pic.twitter.com/dxf4EtFl5P
— ANI (@ANI) October 17, 2018
Earlier on Monday, Akbar filed a criminal defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani claiming that her article in Vogue India caused him “great humiliation”. He alleged that she “intentionally put forward malicious, fabricated and salacious” allegations to harm his reputation before 2019 general elections.
Ramani is the first woman who publicly accused Akbar of sexual harassment during the recent #MeToo wave.
Later on Tuesday, at least twenty women journalists issued a statement saying that they are prepared to testify against the BJP minister in court.
Also Read: Twenty More Journalists Speak Up Against Akbar, Say They Are Prepared To Testify
“We would request the honourable court hearing the defamation case to also consider testimonies of sexual harassment of some of us at the hands of the petitioner, as also of the other signatories who bore witness to this harassment,” wrote the women journalists in the statement.