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MUMBAI – A senior Indian minister said Sunday that multiple sexual assault charges against him were "wild and baseless" and that he was considering suing the women who had laid the charges.
At least 10 women made public last week reports of inappropriate behavior and sexual harassment by the minister, Mr. J. Akbar, a senior legislator in the Department of External Affairs and a former journalist.
Mr. Akbar, who founded and edited several newspapers and magazines before going into politics, is accused of inappropriate behavior by women journalists who worked as his subordinates.
"The allegations of misconduct against me are false and fabricated, with innuendo and malice," Akbar said in a statement to the ANI news agency, an Indian Reuters partner. .
The #MeToo movement that emerged in the United States as a result of charges of sexual harassment and abuse by powerful men has kidnapped in India in recent weeks. Tanushree Dutta, a Bollywood actress, has relaunched her complaint for inappropriate behavior against a colleague, Nana Patekar, while shooting a film in 2008.
Since then, more than a dozen men from the media, entertainment and arts sectors have been charged with offenses ranging from sexual harassment to rape.
Akbar faced calls for his resignation, but the government remained silent on the issue.
In his statement, Akbar said he planned to fight the charges and asked if these claims could be motivated by political considerations.
"Why did this storm come up a few months before the general election? Is there an agenda? Be the judge, he says.
