Reiterating her husband’s defence, the BJP MP’s wife, Mallika, said that Pallavi never carried the “haunted look of a victim of sexual harassment”.
"Tushita Patel and Pallavi Gogoi were often at our home, happily drinking and dining with us. Neither carried the haunted look of victims of sexual assault. I don’t know Pallavi’s reasons for telling this lie but a lie it is," she was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
READ ALSO: #MeToo: Journalist alleges she was raped by MJ Akbar
I don't know Pallavi's reasons for telling this lie, but a lie it is: #MJAkbar's wife Mallika Akbar to ANI on journ… https://t.co/gmcvpwJzDu
— ANI (@ANI) 1541151822000
The former Union minister — who had to recently tender his resignation after a spate of sexual harassment complaints against him was today accused of rape by a journalist. Earlier today, in an article written in The Washington Post, Pallavi Gogoi alleged that Akbar had raped her, 23 years ago, while she was working with him.
Akbar, too, reasserted that the allegations against him are a “lie”.
"Somewhere around 1994, Ms Pallavi Gogoi and I entered into a consensual relationship that spanned several months. This relationship gave rise to talk and would later cause strife in my home life as well. This consensual relationship ended, perhaps not on the best note," Akbar told ANI.
The BJP MP said that two days ago, he received a series of "cryptic and non-specific questions" from The Washington Post.
"These allegations were false and were consequently denied," he said.
Mallika corroborated Akbar's claim that Gogoi and Patel were in a "consensual" relationship with him and alleged that a "MeToo" campaign has been "unleashed" against her husband.
"I have been silent all this while as a ‘me too’ campaign has been unleashed against my husband, Mr MJ Akbar. However, the Washington Post article by Pallavi Gogoi alleging that she was raped by him forces me to step in with what I know to be true," she added.
Mallika further added that Akbar's relationship with Gogoi caused serious. However, she (Gogoi) never gave the impression that she was working under duress.
"People who worked with me and knew both of us have indicated that they would be happy to bear testimony to what is stated above and at no stage did the behaviour of Pallavi Gogoi give any one of them an impression that she was working under duress," she said.
"Over 20 years ago, Pallavi Gogoi caused unhappiness and discord in our home. I learned of her and my husband’s involvement through her calls and her public display of affection in my presence. In her flaunting the relationship, she caused anguish and hurt to my entire family. At an Asian Age party at our home, crowded with young journalists, I have watched with mortification and pain as they danced close. I had confronted my husband at the time and he decided to prioritize his family," she said.
Updated: TOI's policy on covering #MeToo
from Times of India https://ift.tt/2RvIOBE
