MJ Akbar denies rape accusations, wife defends him; both say he had affair with woman

Former union minister MJ Akbar on Friday, November 3, denied accusations of rape by US-based journalist Pallavi Gogoi, claiming he had consensual relationship spanning several months with her but it ended “perhaps not on the best note”.

In a separate statement his wife Mallika Akbar also dismissed Gogoi's accusations, made in a Washington Post article on Friday, as a “lie”.

“Somewhere around 1994, Ms Pallavi Gogoi and I entered into a consensual relationship that spanned several months,” said Akbar, who recently resigned as the junior foreign minister following a spate of #MeToo allegations.

"This relationship (with Gogoi) gave rise to talk and would later cause significant strife in my home life as well. This consensual relationship ended, perhaps not on the best note," he said.

In her statement, Mallika said "more than twenty years ago, Pallavi Gogoi caused unhappiness and discord in our home. I learned of her and my husband's involvement through her late night phone calls and her public display of affection in my presence." "I don't know Pallavi's reasons for telling this lie but a lie it is," she added.

Here you can read the full text of statement released by Mallika Akbar: