"It seems that apart from Ramani, nobody else had made any allegations against Akbar. By then Ghazala Wahab had written about her experience. At 15 women had spoken up on Twitter," she said before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar.
'It was me the victim who had to stand up in the court as an accused. I thank everyone who stood by me especially my witnesses Ghazala Wahab and Niloufer Venkatraman who came to the court and testified on my behalf'
Ramani, who concluded her arguments on Saturday in the complaint filed against her by Akbar, told the court through her lawyer that the #MeToo campaign was started to correct the structural wrong, which was continuing for long.
The cross-examination of Akbar by Ramani's counsel remained inconclusive and would resume on on July 6.
'There are tremendous personal, economic and emotional costs to bear in a case.' 'And those costs were suffered by Priya and Priya alone.' 'Nobody goes happily to court and you wouldn't wish that on anyone.'
'Mr Akbar has underestimated the level of pent-up anger and commitment among these women,' a young lawyer tells Sunil Sethi.
'Today, there is pervasive fear in society; an uncertainty of what might happen.' 'This has forced Muslims to shrink further into mental ghettos, with many considering extreme measures like pretending to change their identity.'
In its first comments on the sexual harassment allegations against Akbar, the BJP said the minister has given his version on the row and that it is not about whether the party agrees or disagrees with him.
'The allegations of misconduct made against me are false and fabricated, spiced up by innuendo and malice'
Akbar's lawyer said that he had resigned from the post of minister of state for external affairs due to these allegations and this showed the extent of damage caused to his reputation.
On Wednesday, Minister of State (External Affairs) M J Akbar resigned from his post after facing a flurry of allegations of sexual harassment by women journalists. As the women journalists 'feel vindicated' following his resignation, here's a list of the women who came forward and shared their ordeal.
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