New Delhi: India’s Junior Forei­­gn Minister M.J. Akbar and movie actor Alok Nath, accused by several women of sexual harassment, on Monday sued one accuser each for defamation and the women said they were ready for the fight.

Picking on a woman each seemed to be a legal strategy while pressure mounted on both men to come clean.

Mr Nath stands accused of rape by writer-producer Vinta Nanda and has sued for defamation, asking for a written apology and Re 1 as compensation. He has filed the case jointly with his wife Ashu Nath.

Nanda has accused the actor of raping her 19 years ago. After she came out with her allegation, other women like Sandhya Mridul and Deepika Amin accused him of harassment and inappropriate behaviour.

The Cine and TV Artistes Asso­cia­tion or CINTAA sent Mr Nath a show-cause notice on Nanda’s post. The association asked why he should not be ex­­pelled from CINTAA. The actor urged that the notice be withdrawn, that he was innocent until proven guilty.

In response to Mr Nath’s lawsuit, Nanda’s lawyer said today: “She will not be intimidated by threats and defamation suits which are primarily meant to delay and distract from the gravity of the allegations.”

Mr Akbar has also sued one of his accusers, journalist Priya Ramani, who was the first to name him as allegations of sex harassment tumbled out against the prominent editor-turned-politician. Ms Ramani said in a statement she would not be intimidated by the suit and was up for the fight.

She said women who came out against Mr Akbar had no political ambitions unlike him, and were going public at a great cost to their privacy and professional life. Senior journalist N. Ram has called for the resignation of Mr Akbar as a prelude to a thorough probe into the charges.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2018