‘Judgment paves way for more women to speak up’

She endured more than 50 court appearances over two years, sued for defamation by a former minister after telling her #MeToo story – but Indian journalist Priya Ramani is proud she spoke out.

On Wednesday, a court in New Delhi rejected the defamation claim by MJ Akbar, the former minister and veteran journalist whom Ramani had accused of sexual harassment – the culmination of a case seen as a milestone for India’s #MeToo movement.

“I’m feeling light and I can’t stop smiling ... I feel vindicated and that my truth was registered and noted and accepted by a court of law,” Ramani said.

“I think more women will speak up. I have got so many messages from young women saying that this victory gives them hope and they believe in justice.”

In 2017, Ramani wrote a story for Vogue magazine about the inappropriate behaviour of an unnamed editor more than two decades ago.

A year later, fuelled by the rage of other women who had been sharing their stories on social media amid the global #MeToo movement against sexual harassment, she tweeted a link to the story – and named Akbar.

Ramani’s tweet sparked a flurry of allegations by at least a dozen other women about Akbar, and a few days later, he resigned as junior foreign minister, becoming the highest-profile scalp for the #MeToo movement in India at the time.

Akbar, now 70, filed a criminal complaint against Ramani and called her allegations “baseless”, kicking off the legal saga.

“Fighting a member of the ruling elite” was a challenge, but the Bangalore-based journalist said support from her family, friends and many in the media fraternity was invaluable.

“I was going to take this case to its end, whatever it was,” she said.

“I also knew that I had already won by fighting this battle, whether or not I won in court ... because I stood up to a powerful man without feeling scared.”