The Hush Post|11:30 am|2-min-read
Journalist and TV anchor Gaurav Sawant has been accused by journalist Vidya Krishnan. She alleged that during a reporting trip in the Beas in 2003, she was sexually harassed and assaulted. In the news magazine” The Caravan” Vidya has alleged that she was molested during an assignment by Mr Sawant. He allegedly came to her hotel room and exposed himself.
A special issue of The Caravan: How Vijay Nair's Only Much Louder failed the women in its ranks; Eleven women speak out against Jatin Das's sexual misconduct; A journalist accuses primetime anchor Gaurav Sawant of sexual assault.#MeTooIndia #TimesUp pic.twitter.com/zXNEYuYv9K
— The Caravan (@thecaravanindia) November 12, 2018
Vidya Krishnan, former health editor at The Hindu, said she was new at The Pioneer when the incident allegedly took place. It was her first outstation assignment at a military station in Beas, Punjab.
Mr Sawant, who was a well-known defence correspondent at the time, was also on that trip. She was the only woman among the reporters and in the military vehicle. Ms Krishnan says that Sawant sat behind her and at one point, he allegedly placed his hand on her shoulder, then slid it to her breast.
She told the magazine she didn’t react then even though her “body was frozen still”. “I didn’t feel secure enough to tell anybody and say, ‘This is happening, make it stop.’ I didn’t have the confidence to say anything,” she said.
She added that it wasn’t just professional considerations that stopped her from naming Mr Sawant. However, Mr Sawant, the Executive Editor with India Today, has tweeted:
The article published by Caravan is irresponsible, baseless, and completely false. I am talking to my lawyers and will take full legal action. So grateful to my family, friends, and viewers for their support.
— GAURAV C SAWANT (@gauravcsawant) November 12, 2018
Besides dismissing the allegations entirely, Mr Samant said that he is consulting lawyers to seek legal remedy.”
