Harassment – Journalists

Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit held a press conference on Tuesday evening to clear his name from a controversy surrounding a professor arrested in the ‘sex for degrees’ case. However, the Governor walked into another row when he patted the cheek of a woman journalist, without her consent, seemingly to dodge her question.

The incident took place when the 78-year-old Governor was about to leave the venue of the crowded press conference at the Raj Bhavan.  The woman journalist, who works with TheWeek, recalled the encounter on Twitter: “I asked TN Governor Banwarilal Purohit a question as his press conference was ending. He decided to patronisingly – and without consent – pat me on the cheek as a reply.”

Calling it unprofessional behavior, the journalist, Lakshmi Subramanian, said it was completely uncalled for to touch a stranger without consent. “This, moments after he dismissed a barrage of questions about allegations of sexual misconduct against himself. Unprofessional behaviour – and completely uncalled for to touch a stranger without her consent, especially a woman,” she tweeted.