One more journalist has accused MJ Akbar of sexual harassment, taking count of complainants against him to 16. The Union Minister of state for External Affair still refuses to let go of his portfolio.

In her open letter published in Scroll.in, Tushita Patel talks about how Akbar harassed her when she was a 22-year-old rookie journalist in the 1990s. She details how he procured her landline number after meeting her in Kolkata and called her incessantly, asking her to meet her in the hotel he was staying in to discuss her work.

When the now journalist and author finally relented and went to see him, he opened the door dressed in only his underwear. “I stood at the door, stricken, scared and awkward,” she writes. “You stood there like the VIP man, amused by my fear. What would you say that was? Does greeting a 22-year-old in a state of undress pass your test of morality?”

Patel says she felt compelled to speak about the incident now because if she didn’t, she’d feel complicit in the journalist-turned-politician’s crimes. She goes on to describe how Akbar hunted her while she worked as a sub-editor in Deccan Chronicle in Hyderabad, forcing her to come to his office and kissing her forcefully more than once. Akbar has denied all accusations against him.

New Accusations

Tushita Patel, in her open letter, details how MJ Akbar procured her landline number after meeting her in Kolkata and called her incessantly, asking her to meet her in the hotel he was staying in to discuss her work