Amidst the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him, the junior minister and former journalist MJ Akbar today tendered his resignation.
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In his resignation letter Akbar states that since he has sought to seek justice in the court of law in his personal capacity, he deems it appropriate to step down as a junior minister.
In what appears to be a pattern, Akbar is alleged to have interviewed female journalists in hotel rooms, asking them to sit on the bed and making them feel extremely uncomfortable. Multiple women have come out and narrated their stories where Akbar had allegedly made them feel extremely uncomfortable with their behaviour and even sexually assaulting them.
BJP President Amit Shah had said that the charges against Akbar would be examined. Upon his return from Nigeria earlier this week, there were speculations that Akbar had resigned, which were later refuted by him.
Akbar has filed a defamation case against Priya Ramani, one of the journalists who had accused him of sexual harassment and dismissed the allegations as ‘false and fabricated’ and ‘malicious’.