New Delhi: Journalist Priya Ramani was acquitted by a Delhi court on Wednesday afternoon in a defamation case filed by former Union Minister MJ Akbar, whom she had accused of sexual misconduct in 2018. After a more than an year-long legal battle, Ramani won the case.
While the decision has left women all over the country hopeful and overwhelmed, many others believe that the fact she had to fight such a tedious battle shows how the society still needs to work on making a safe workplace for women.
Speaking to Millennium Post, lawyer Tanvi Sharma said, "This has been the story of every woman I came across in my 26 years of life. Priya's victory is a push for us, women, to come out and raise the issue of sexual harassment but there still exists a social burden on women to not call out the predators. The fear associated with coming out and naming someone as an accused in a sexual harassment cases still persists.
"My experience in dealing with the cases of sexual harassment has been such that women are always threatened with a counter case of criminal defamation and the investigating authority attached to the case look for a possible settlement in a cognizable offence by pressurising the victim to take back the complaint or settle the issue by taking some money. That's how the law and the society treats a victim. The judgment pronounced today after two years of trial is a ray of hope for all of us in this 'man's world'— men who are born with the entitlement of everything they own or do not own."
While social media is still buzzing with the decision, with women from all walks of life congratulating Priya for giving other women, Delhi-based journalist Tarannum Khan says it is shameful how those who have been accused drag a sexual harassment survivor to the stand. "The word sexual harassment in itself is so alarming and when someone has to go through so much mental harassment for raising their voice in this regard, it is shameful. A workplace should be an area where there's no discomfort in any manner. Encouraging and supporting the person as they are already going through something is so difficult," she said.
From anger to relief, many emotions flowed through the Internet after the order came out. Neelabja Adkuloo, a teacher in a private school said that it is high time for the Indian society stop giving "precedence to men's reputation over women's safety".
She said, "We need to understand that men holding a position of power and prestige can only get away with sexual harassment when they're enabled. By holding MJ Akbar accountable, Ramani has paved the path for women to safely report such issues. However, the delay in justice and the burden on Ramani to prove that the harrassment did happen tells how much still needs to be done to empower women.
"The first step that can be taken in that direction is ensure swift justice in fast track courts. They were established amidst much fanfare but that died down soon enough. Expediting cases of workplace harassment will certainly boost the number of women entering the workplace as their confidence in a safe system of reporting will not be misplaced."