#MeToo campaign: Another woman accuses MJ Akbar of sex harassment when she was 18

As the Modi government continues to maintain a stoic silence on whether it would ask editor-turned-politician and MoS for External Affairs, MJ Akbar, to step down, another woman has accused him of subjecting her to sexual harassment.

Talking to the HuffPost India, the survivor, Majlie de Puy Kamp, claimed that she was 18 whereas Akbar was 55-year old at the time of incident. According to the report, it was her last day of internship at the The Asian Age in 2007 when Akbar forced himself on her.

One of her tasks at the paper, according to her, was to show Akbar options for the lead photograph for the next morning's front page. On her last day of internship, after Akbar looked over the pictures, she thanked him for the opportunity to intern at his paper. "He got up and walked around his desk to where I was sitting, so I also got up and I extended my hand," the report quotes her as saying, adding that "He grabbed me right under my shoulders, on my arms, and pulled me in and kissed me on my mouth and forced his tongue into my mouth, and I just stood there."

"What he did was disgusting, he violated my boundaries, betrayed my trust and that of my parents," HuffPost India further quotes her, adding that she had met Akbar through her parents who had worked as foreign correspondents in Delhi in the 1990s.

"He was my parent's friend, he was supposed to pull through for me if I ever got in trouble while living in a foreign country."

The report stated that the HuffPost India had reached out to Akbar and will update this story if he responds.

Even as Opposition clamour for Akbar’s dismissal mounts, the BJP spokespersons and Ministers in Modi’s cabinet have refrained from commenting on the issue. Akbar, has also maintained a studied silence against mounting allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

Pertinently, as part of the #MeToo campaign, Akbar has been accused by seven women journalists of sexual harassment including Priya Ramani, Ghazala Wahab, Saba Naqvi, Shutapa Paul, Shuma Raha, Suparna Sharma, Prerna Singh Bindra. Many of them have shared on social media their stories of sexual harassment by Akbar when he was editor of different newspapers.