Journalist Priya Ramani on Saturday recorded her statement in the criminal defamation case filed against her by former Union Minister M.J. Akbar. The proceedings will continue on September 9.
Defending the use of the word “predator” in her tweet on October 8, 2018, Ms. Ramani said it was in the context of her personal experience with Mr. Akbar and the shared experiences of many other women.
Ms. Ramani said there was no overt physical attack on her, “but that did not excuse Mr. Akbar's sexually coloured behavior”.
Testifying in the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal, Ms. Ramani said after completing her masters in journalism from the U.S., she returned to India in November 1993. She was looking for job when Mr. Akbar asked her to meet him for an interview at 7 p.m. at a hotel, and allegedly called her to his room. Ms. Ramani alleged that he asked several personal questions, offered her alcohol, and moved to the sofa and gestured to her to sit next to him which she refused.
In 2017, when Vogue's features editor asked Ms. Ramani to write about male bosses in the context of American MeToo movement, while researching about the article she “couldn't help but remember my personal story of my first male boss”, she said.
