NCW & Maneka Gandhi Respond To IWPC Letter, Urge Women Who Have Accused Akbar To Lodge Formal Complaints
NCW has said that only one woman has lodged a formal complaint with the commission.
The Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) on October 16, wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi and National Commission for Women (NCW) demanding a fair investigation of sexual harassment allegations against MJ Akbar.
“We are deeply dismayed that despite the long list of complaints involving the Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs, no formal inquiry into the complaints comprising of serious charges of sexual harassment has been instituted at any level in the government. Rather, motives have been attributed to the complainants,” IWPC’s letter read.
On October 17, responding to ICWPC’s letter, Gandhi wrote, “I am definitely going to look into the institutional mechanisms of each media organisation immediately. “We will send you the findings.”
“Regarding anything else I am going to ask NCW to look into the matter,” the letter added.
Rekha Sharma (NCW chairperson) wrote in her reply, “The National Commission for Women strongly condemns any act of invasion of the private space of women and has taken a serious note of all the instances of sexual harassment of women that have figured in the media recently.”
NCW said that at the time of writing the letter, only one woman had lodged a formal complaint with the commission after speaking publicly about the harassment.
“I also wish to inform you that the Commission is in receipt of only one written complaint from a woman who has publically spoken about her harasser since the #MeToo campaign. The Commission has promptly registered said complaint against Shri Navroze Dhondy and has initiated the process to ensure speedy redressal and delivery of justice to the victim,” the letter read.
NCW asked the women who have accused Akbar to lodge a formal complaint. “I would, once again, urge the women alleging sexual harassment and sexual misconduct against the senior minister to send their formal written complaints to the National Commission for Women so that appropriate action may be taken, as per law,” the reply read.
Akbar resigned from his post of the Minister of State, External Affairs Ministry on October 17.