Executive Editor Of Leading Journal Accused Of Assault

New Delhi: Executive Editor of India Today, Gaurav Sawant, has been accused of sexual harassment by journalist Vidya Krishnan during a work trip to Beas in 2003.

Krishnan described her experience to the magazine, ‘Caravan’. Then a young trainee journalist, she was looking forward to getting work. She said that in 2003, she was hired by a newspaper and her assignment was to cover a peacetime drill in a military station at Beas. The trip included several senior journalists, including Sawant. “We used to get a lot of these boring, old lecturers and suddenly, this young guy (Sawant) came, so there was a bit of talk around that,” a batchmate of Krishnan said.

The Caravan report said the trip was not a career breakthrough for the young journalist. Rather, she was assaulted by the teacher she looked up to (Sawant) for most part of her journey.

She spoke about an incident where Sawant allegedly placed his hand on her shoulder. Krishnan thought was an accident. She tried to move away and readjust, thinking she might be getting this wrong. However, much to her surprise, he moved his hand to other parts of her body. “My body was frozen still. I didn’t have the confidence to say anything,”
Krishnan said.

The same night, she recalls, Sawant messaged her that he wanted to come to her room. He emphasised that “nothing naughty” was on his mind. “He just wanted to get into a bathtub with her,” the report said. Minutes after Krishnan politely declined, Sawant knocked on her door. “In my mind, when I opened the door, there was a fear I might have to end up doing what he wanted. I was not confident that I could stand my ground and say ‘No’,” Krishnan said.

She further stated how he tried to force her when she started screaming. “I had made it very visible to him this was an unwelcome advance. I felt like he was overpowering me, which is why in my panic I started screaming. I think his senses came back to him and he
stopped at that point and left,” she added. She said it is only for her peace with herself that she called out Sawant for his actions.