#MeToo: MJ Akbar raped me, alleges former Asian Age journalist

She was first sexually assaulted in 1994 as a young journalist in India.

Pallavi Gogoi, the chief business editor of NPR, has alleged in a post on The Washington Post that the former Union Minister MJ Akbar raped her 23 years ago.

She was at the time working at Akbar's newspaper, Asian Age when he first sexually assaulted her in 1994.

In a column titled 'As a young journalist in India, I was raped by MJ Akbar. Here is my story,' Gogoi goes on to make shocking revelations and the extent of abuse she faced at the hands of the powerful editor.

"It must have been late spring or summer of 1994, and I had gone into his office - his door was often closed. I went to show him the op-ed page I had created with what I thought were clever headlines. He applauded my effort and suddenly lunged to kiss me. I reeled. I emerged from the office, red-faced, confused, ashamed, destroyed."

"The second incident was a few months later when I was summoned to Bombay to help launch a magazine. He called me to his room at the fancy Taj hotel, again to see the layouts. When he again came close to me to kiss me, I fought him and pushed him away. He scratched my face as I ran away, tears streaming down. That evening, I explained the scratches to a friend by telling her I had slipped and fallen at the hotel.

Narrating the incident when MJ Akbar raped her, Gogoi goes on to say -

"In his hotel room, even though I fought him, he was physically more powerful. He ripped off my clothes and raped me. Instead of reporting him to the police, I was filled with shame. I didn't tell anyone about this then. Would anyone have believed me? I blamed myself. Why did I go to the hotel room?"

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