India Today Executive Editor Gaurav Sawant on Wednesday said he has sent a defamation notice to The Caravan and journalists Nikita Saxena and Vidya Krishnan following an article accusing him of sexual harassment.

A report written by Saxena in The Caravan’s November issue, which came out on Monday, described Krishnan’s allegations against Sawant. Krishnan, who was the health and science editor of The Hindu and is a regular contributor to The Caravan, said the alleged harassment took place when she was sent to cover a peacetime drill at a military station in Beas, Punjab while working at The Pioneer.

Krishnan claimed that Sawant had placed his hand on her shoulder and breast while they were travelling, along with a group of journalists, by jeep. She also accused him of sending her inappropriate text messages during the reporting trip and of forcibly entering her room at night and harassing her.

On Monday, Sawant had denied the allegations, calling the article “irresponsible, baseless and completely false”. India Today had said that the article was distressing, but it was in no position to comment or investigate as Sawant had not been employed with the organisation at the time of the alleged incident.

I have sent a defamation notice to Caravan, Ms Nikita Saxena and Ms Vidya Krishnan through my lawyers. Will seek justice. — GAURAV C SAWANT (@gauravcsawant) November 14, 2018

#MeToo in India

Since October 5, dozens of women have taken to social media to give detailed accounts of the sexual harassment and misconduct they have faced across several sectors such as advertising, the Tamil and Hindi film industries, the field of arts, music and dance, publishing, journalism, sports, religion, and at non-profit organisations.